Danny Higginbotham: Brave Pep Guardiola was not afraid to change the way Manchester City played to beat Barcelona

MANCHESTER CITY stunned Barcelona by fighting back from a goal down to seal an historic win at the Etihad.

Here, Danny Higginbotham explains how boss Pep Guardiola masterminded the 3-1 victory over his old team.

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Pep talk changed it

In the first half City tried to play out from the back like Barcelona and got caught.

But after the break they were not afraid to go longer and beat the Barcelona press that way.

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You saw Aleksandar Kolarov, Willy Caballero and Nicolas Otamendi go over the press.

The attacking midfielders — Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan — all knew they were going to hit further from deep and made their moves towards Sergio Aguero.

It showed, if you get it right, that you can impose your game on Barca.

I would not say that was normally the Guardiola way but he deserves credit for recognising what they needed to do. He was not scared of doing something different, even if it is not the way he likes to play.

Gun not firing blanks

Gundogan was terrific all night and the key was the way he got himself into some fantastic positions between the Barcelona midfield and defence.

The two goals he scored were just tap-ins, but what mattered were the brilliant runs he made to get there for the finishes.

You could see why Guardiola wanted him, 100 per cent. His running and movement was exceptional.

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Messi for Lionel

Barcelona found themselves dropping deeper and deeper and that meant their front three of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez got very little of the ball because they were isolated from the rest of the team.

The key was that the City back four played ten yards higher up the pitch.

So when they played up, the midfield — while staying compact — were in turn further up the field. That was a brave decision but it worked.

It ended up with Messi - allegedly involved in a tunnel incident after the game - dropping deeper to try to get into the game.

From Guardiola’s point of view that would have been magnificent to see, because it was the signal that his game-plan was working.

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Suddenly, Barcelona did not look like Barcelona any more. They looked hurried and did not have their normal time on the ball.

Andres Iniesta often gets the credit and rightly so, but I have often felt the key to stopping Barcelona is to contain Sergio Busquets and that is what City did. Their pressure meant Busquets could not determine the pace of the game.

De Bruyne, Gundogan and Silva got so close to him and did not let him settle. He was crowded out and his influence deteriorated with each minute.

Kun hardly do better

Leaving out Aguero in the first game was controversial and he was always going to play in this one, but the Argentine’s selfless running was critical, too.

Even if he didn’t win the first ball, he was able to put the centre-backs under pressure and City had the numbers to win the second ball.

The Barcelona full-backs love to bomb forward to leave the defensive triangle, which was Busquets, Javier Mascherano and Samuel Umtiti.

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But City took advantage, threading 15-20 yard passes down the line where Aguero was able to get on the ball and drag the centre-backs wide, where they don’t want to be.

It was crucial in changing the flow of the game.

Gem stones

John Stones had one or two dodgy moments but he defended very well.

Guardiola wants him to play out from the back and he’ll never get in trouble for that.

Barcelona have played this way for many years now. They either bring players through the ranks to play that way or buy them because they think they will fit in.

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It’s different at City. A lot of the players pre-date Guardiola and they have to adapt But they earned the right to play, drove Barca back and dictated the pace of the game.

You have to show Barcelona respect but in the first half City showed them too much, as if they thought Barca were better than them. After the break they looked like a team that felt they belonged on this stage.

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