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The final matchday of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League group stages saw Premier League leaders Manchester City visit Ukranian powerhouse Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Ukranian side started the match on a bright note. They were enthusiastic in attack and often flocked ahead in numbers with pace. It showed on the scoreboard too when they took the lead in the 26th minute via a fine curling strike by Bernard.
It did not take them long to score their second after an error from Ederson allowed Ismaily to put the ball in the back of the net.
The second half was a drab affair in comparison where the only goal was scored by Sergio Aguero in the stoppage time through a well-taken penalty.
Here are the talking points from an entertaining encounter at Manchester:
#5 Shakhtar's amazing end to the group stage
Tonight's match was dead rubber for Guardiola's team, or you can say, with all due respect to Shakhtar, a practice match before the all-important Manchester Derby. However, for Shakhtar, the case was just opposite. They required at least a draw against the English table toppers.
Most teams would have taken a draw in such scenario, especially if their opponents were a free-scoring Manchester giant. However, backed by their amazing and vocal supporters, Shakhtar went into the game with just one idea in the back of their head: to win. They started brightly and were always in control of the proceedings.
They defended resolutely and never allowed City attackers even a sniff at their goal. Offensively, they had a plan and they executed it to the perfection. They were scintillating to watch as they handed City a taste of their own medicine.
In a group where not many had backed them to be the second team to come out of the group stage alive and well functioning, they have performed spectacularly well and have certainly punched a wee bit above their weight.
#4 City's squad rotation
Napoli fans might have had something to say about the City line-up when it was announced. Although in the end, Napoli undid themselves when they lost to Feyenoord, their concern at the line up certainly should have been genuine. However, for Pep, it was almost impossible to field a full strength eleven considering the future fixtures.
Pep Guardiola's side has given some of the most amazing performances in the group stage this term. They had earned themselves a berth in the round of sixteen with one matchday to spare. Tonight's match was certainly dead rubber for them.
However, with the impending Manchester derby this weekend and it's implications on the title race, it was quite clear that he would rest some of his key players and give some of his fringe players some game time. However, nobody foresaw such wholesome changes.
The Spaniard retained only three starting members of his last Premier League game in his starting line-up: Ederson, Sane and Fernandinho. He gave U-17 star, Phil Foden and Oluwatosin Adarabioyo their first Champions League starts. The second half saw the introduction of another youngster, Brahim Diaz.
It was quite apparent from the very beginning that City very much intend to win the Manchester derby and have already been planning for it with this match being not much more of a deviation in their plans.
#3 Shakhtar's attack
No English team had won away against Shakhtar in a total of 6 attempts. Manchester City came to the Medalist stadium only to become another English team beaten for the fifth time out of seven matches against this club.
A big reason for such results has to be their attack. A lot of other teams would prefer defending deep against Pep Guardiola's side while looking to hurt them on the counter, but certainly not Shakhtar. Shakhtar came into the game with a clear game plan in attack and then executed it perfectly.
Bernard, along with Taison and Marlos was a menace for City's midfield as well as defence. Their passing was sharp, movement crisp and vision immaculate. They played some of the sharpest one-twos, ones which Guardiola himself would love to see his players execute.
Add to the trio the left back, Ismaily and you get a very potent attack which should be worrying for whoever they draw in the next round. From whatever we have seen, the Ukrainians certainly can inflict some damage even against the strongest of defences.
#2 Is it the end of Yaya Toure as we have known him?
Yaya Toure, since he has burst on the scene, has been one of the finest midfielders of the world. He combined grace and tenacity with brute strength and explosive power like no other did.
His burst of pace from deep often took him forward like a raging storm, an immovable force. His physique could scare the daylights out of the mightiest of men. Yet whenever, he had the ball at his feet he was gracious with it, caressing it and pinging it across every blade of grass on the field.
Add to that his inexhaustive engine, his stamina. He could run for days. One moment, he would be on the edge of his own box blocking a well-hit shot and the very next moment, you would find him unleashing a thunderbolt of a strike from the edge of the oppositions penalty area.
However, if anything this match has shown us, it is that Yaya Toure is no more the same player he was in his prime. He has lost a yard or two of pace and looks way too slow amidst the hustle and bustle of modern football.
His intelligence on the ball and vision off it are still intact, but his slowness allows him to be bypassed quite easily in the midfield and it was very much on show tonight as the Shakhtar players ghosted past him with ease.
It's quite understandable since he is 34, but those who have watched him at his prime certainly miss him and thank him for the innumerable joys the big Ivorian has given them.
#1 What next for Manchester City?
Today's game may well be the least important game City have played this season. With their berth in UEFA Champions League round of 16 booked quite early in the campaign, they took their foot off the gas and fielded a very different looking side which included quite a few youth players alongside the fringe members of the squad.
However, come this weekend, they will face their biggest rivals from across town - Manchester United, in their bid to strengthen their position on the top of Premier League standings. The match already looks to be a blockbuster on paper as the two superpowers in club football look to go one up on the other.
Having rested key players like De Bruyne and Silva for the upcoming fixture, Manchester City players certainly shall look fitter and fresher of the two. Having rounded up the group early, Pep Guardiola's men were given some very important breathing space and they should very certainly look to build on it.
