Jack Grealish hailed a "perfect" response from Manchester City as a 5-0 thumping of Newcastle United banished their Champions League blues.
City will not be champions of Europe this season after their dramatic semi-final exit to Real Madrid, but they are red-hot favourites for the Premier League title after this weekend's turn of events.
Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Tottenham, which halted the Reds' 12-game winning run in the league at Anfield, allowed City to pull three points clear on Sunday.
With only three rounds of games remaining, City would have to throw it away. They have Wolves, West Ham and Aston Villa to come, and the onslaught against Newcastle saw City go four ahead of Liverpool in the goal difference stakes too.
As Grealish acknowledged, the destiny of the title is very much in City's hands.
Grealish told Sky Sports: "We always knew there was going to be pressure on us today, especially after what happened in midweek, but we bounced back perfectly.
"We've stuck together as a team and a unit in the past few days, which was needed. We'll just try to end the season strongly, and we've certainly done that today."
City were 5-3 ahead on aggregate against Madrid heading into the closing moments in the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, but Rodrygo's late double and a Karim Benzema penalty in extra time left Pep Guardiola's visitors shaken.
"Today was a perfect response and a perfect performance," Grealish said.
"We're in the driving seat. We can't look at what's going on around us. It's in our hands, and we have to go and win every game as we would anyway."
It was the 30th time that City have scored five or more goals in a Premier League game since Guardiola took charge at the start of the 2016-17 season.
Grealish teed up Oleksandr Zinchenko to cross for Phil Foden to score City's fourth, and the former Aston Villa man played in Raheem Sterling for the fifth in stoppage time.
Rodri had earlier headed the third, and the Spanish midfielder said: "The personality we saw today was unbelievable – 5-0 after what happened [in Madrid] is incredible.
"The mood wasn't very high as you can see, but on Friday the team woke up and focused on the game."
Pointing to his head, Rodri added: "I think we do unbelievable work here. Sometimes it's more important than in the legs and that's what the champion teams do."
Girona veteran Stuani merits Champions League dream against PSG, says Michel
Girona captain Cristhian Stuani deserves more than anyone to be in the team for the side's first-ever Champions League game on Wednesday against Paris Saint-Germain, head coach Michel said.
Michel promised the 37-year-old striker that he would give him the captain's armband when they play in the Champions League after he grabbed an injury-time winner against Real Betis in March.
Girona, who had never qualified for Europe's top club competition in their 94-year history, finally secured a place in the Champions League by finishing third in the LaLiga standings last season.
"Stuani deserves to be in the starting eleven. He has been wearing this shirt for many years. He deserves it more than anyone," Sanchez told reporters on Tuesday.
"The reality is that last year we did things spectacularly. We have arrived at a place that we deserve. We are excited, motivated.
"It's a dream and you have to enjoy it. The growth of this club is demonstrated by moments like this. We have to give our version and enjoy ourselves."
Stuani will be aged 37 years and 342 days on the day of this game and would be the second-oldest outfield debutant in Champions League history, behind Anastasios Mitropoulos (40 years, 109 days) who made a brief substitute appearance for Olympiakos against Rosenborg in December 1997.
Uruguay international Stuani said it would be a dream come true to play in the competition with the club he joined in 2017.
"It is a pride and an honour to be part of all this. It's very special. Not only because of what it means for Girona to play in the Champions League," Stuani said.
"I'm lucky and it's a privilege to be able to enjoy a game like this. It's a dream day and I'm going to achieve it with the club of my life."
The last Spanish side to debut in the competition was Malaga back in the 2012-13 campaign, while each of the last three debuting Spanish sides have gone on to make the knockout stages (Villarreal in 2005-06, Sevilla in 2007-08 and Malaga in 2012-13).
However, only one of the last 28 teams travelling away to PSG for the first time in the Champions League have come away with a victory (D8 L19), with Manchester United winning 3-1 in March 2019.
Real Madrid 3-1 Stuttgart: Rudiger and Endrick goals give holders nervy win
Real Madrid started their Champions League title defence with a hard-fought 3-1 home win over Stuttgart on Tuesday, with late goals from Antonio Rudiger and Endrick guiding them to victory.
Last season's Bundesliga runners-up Stuttgart were arguably the better side for long periods at a sold-out Santiago Bernabeu stadium, threatening a huge upset of the 15-time European champions.
Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a string of critical saves to keep Madrid level, keeping out Jamie Leweling and Angelo Stiller before half-time.
Dani Carvajal also diverted a Deniz Undav shot against his own crossbar as Los Blancos rode their luck, but Kylian Mbappe drew first blood shortly after the restart, finishing from close range after Rodrygo led a quick counterattack.
Stuttgart refused to go away, though, and they looked like clinching a famous result when Undav equalised in the 68th minute, heading Leweling's cross home when totally unmarked at the far post.
However, yet another Madrid late show in Europe saw them snatch all three points, Rudiger heading Luka Modric's corner home in the 83rd minute.
Carlo Ancelotti's side then made sure of the result in stoppage time, Endrick catching Alexander Nubel out from range to score his first Champions League goal.
Data Debrief: Blancos draw on blend of youth and experience
Two players at opposite ends of the age spectrum helped Madrid get over the line after an energetic Stuttgart side threatened to make major headlines at the Bernabeu.
Modric came off the bench with Los Blancos toiling at 1-1, quickly teeing up Rudiger's go-ahead goal with an expertly taken corner-kick.
At the age of 39 years and eight days, he is the third-oldest player to record an assist in the Champions League, after Ryan Giggs (39 years, 363 days in 2013 for Manchester United versus Bayer Leverkusen) and Amadeo Carboni (39 years, 176 days in 2004 for Valencia against Werder Bremen).
Endrick, meanwhile, became the youngest South American to net on his Champions League debut, at the age of 18 years and 58 days.
Motta urges Vlahovic to control emotions after Champions League frustration
Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic should control his emotions when he does not score, Bianconeri head coach Thiago Motta said after they beat PSV 3-1 in their Champions League opener.
Kenan Yildiz and Weston McKennie put Juve 2-0 up at the break and Vlahovic set up Nico Gonzalez for the third strike, but the striker failed to find the net himself on Tuesday.
Vlahovic was visibly upset when he missed two chances towards the end of the game as the 24-year-old remained goalless in a third consecutive game across all competitions.
"Dusan always shows up in ideal conditions to train and play. I am happy with his work," Motta told Sky Sport.
"He didn't score and it's true that the striker always wants to score, it is also right that he has this ambition, but he must manage the emotional side.
"It happens to a striker not to score but he must think that on the pitch there are other things to do and that the goal will come. We also have other strikers, the important thing is that he participates in the team game."
Vlahovic attempted four shots but only found the target with one of those, despite accumulating an individual expected goals (xG) tally of 0.71, just shy of scorers Gonzalez (0.73) and McKennie (0.86).
This victory may never have been in doubt, though, considering Juventus have never lost their opening game of a Champions League campaign played at home, now winning seven and drawing three.
Motta, who was appointed in June after the club parted ways with Massimiliano Allegri, was still pleased with the win but believes his team can get better after his debut as a coach in Europe.
"Today I liked the concreteness," he said. "We can improve in many other things to make things difficult for our opponents.
"The goal we conceded is the thing that worries me the least. We can do better in terms of quality. We are going on the right path.
"We started the competition well with a win and now we shall continue like this."
Juve, who remain unbeaten in all competitions so far this season, next face Napoli and Genoa in Serie A before they travel to RB Leipzig in the Champions League on October 2.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
