As such, City entered the new Champions League season intent on showcasing how they'd bounced back from last season's failure; their opening match would be at home against Napoli. Notably, this match would also mark the return of Kevin De Bruyne - the greatest player in the Manchester club's history - to the Etihad Stadium but this time in the opposing jersey.
De Bruyne's return to the Etihad didn't last long, though - this was because in the 21st minute, Napoli full-back Giovanni Di Lorenzo received a red card after a last-man foul on Erling Haaland just outside the penalty area. This prompted Napoli manager Antonio Conte to make his first substitution of the match; he chose to swap out De Bruyne for Mathías Olivera soon after Di Lorenzo was ejected.
Even having a player fewer, Napoli were able to prevent the Citizens from getting onto the scoresheet before the break. However, the match only remained scoreless a short time into the second half as in the 56th minute, Erling Haaland found the net with a header after having been set up by Phil Foden. It was the 50th Champions League goal of the Norwegian's career; having scored that number of goals in just 49 matches, Haaland thus broke the record for the fewest matches required for a player to score his first 50 Champions League goals.
Not long after, City made the victory safe after Jérémy Doku carved up the Napoli defense before slotting the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Napoli never really stood a chance as soon as Di Lorenzo received his marching orders - they were thoroughly dominated in every facet of play.
Having lost two of their first four Premier League matches this season, City are off to a slow start domestically. As such, this victory over the reigning Serie A champions could have been crucial in order to prevent City's early season from spiralling out of hand.
As they have so often done, City spent heavily during the off-season - however, unlike many of the past few seasons, they only really managed to land one truly big name: goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who was signed from Paris Saint-Germain for €30 million to replace club legend Ederson. This doesn't quite stack up well against the transfer windows that some other clubs had - most notably Premier League title rivals Liverpool who put together a transfer window for the ages, bringing to Anfield two bona fide superstars in Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak while also adding multiple important supporting pieces.
That said, City's victory over Napoli was an obvious display of the level they can be at when everything is clicking. The current squad makes use of a tactical setup which has somewhat deviated from Guardiola's early days in the blue half of Manchester; although they still place much emphasis on possession, City are now more likely to create chances via medium-length to long through-balls. While neither of City's two goals was scored in this way, the threat of one coming in that way kept the Napoli defense on their toes throughout the match, adding another dimension to City's attack.
Prior to last season, City had won six of the previous seven league titles including one as part of a Treble in the 2022-23 season, so they are to be written off at one's peril. Despite not landing the level of big-name players which they have in the past, City nonetheless have a squad capable of going all the way and winning the Champions League for the second time in four seasons. The issue, however, is the possibility of inconsistency once again rearing its head and derailing City - and if last season is anything to go by, that possibility can't be dismissed.
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