Former Manchester United midfielder, Owen Hargreaves has singled out Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji for praise following Manchester City’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg 3-0 win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Hargreaves also said that Man City boss Pep Guardiola is so smart at finding a solution, adding that defensively the Premier League champions were flawless against Bayern.
Goals from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland gave Man City a first-leg advantage ahead of the return leg in Germany next week.
Akanji and Ake delivered stellar displays during the encounter at the Etihad Stadium and Hargreaves was particularly complimentary about their defending following Man City’s victory over the Bundesliga champions.
“That is how you win this competition. Defensively, that was a completely different City. Flawless,” Hargreaves told BT Sport afterwards.
“I think you have to credit Pep [Guardiola]. The fact that they can defend that way on their own, now rather than having the false nine, they create the overload in midfield, but it is only able with Ake and Akanji. Pep is so smart at finding the solutions,” Hargreaves added.