5 things we learnt from European Football this weekend

#4 Guardiola shows he has learnt new tricks

Pep Guardiola has been even more adaptive this season and its paying dividends

The 4-2 loss to Leicester City last season would have really annoyed Pep Guardiola as his team wasn’t beaten by any cleverly put together tactics or skills but rather lost due to the ineptitude of the backline he had.

Fast forward to the new season and Pep would have been mightily impressed with his side’s display in their 2-0 win over the same opponents.

The Citizens were calm, controlled and precise in their play, never rushing to score a goal or force the play. This meant that Leicester could not find the gaps which they had profited from in the corresponding fixture last season.

In Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho, Guardiola has one of the best midfield in Europe and the trio showed their class in the way they ran and controlled the game forcing Claude Puel’s men to run themselves into the ground seeking to win the ball back.

The two goals were things of beauty and on another day, an out-of-sorts Gabriel Jesus could have easily bagged a hattrick.

Guardiola has shown himself to be one of the most adaptive creatures in world football and the victories over Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester City which were games that dented last season’s title charge shows that he has learnt from those losses and has set up his team to play to their strengths while nullifying the threats posed by the opposition.