Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand has identified four players who helped Manchester City to beat Bayern Munich in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg tie at the Etihad Stadium.
According to Ferdinand, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji were phenomenal for Man City against Bayern Munich.
The former England defender was impressed with the four players and felt they played their part in the dominant win, adding that they were wonderful.
“I think early on, we spoke about the threats Bayern carried, especially out wide through Coman etc, Akanji and Ake were so convincing,” Ferdinand told BT Sport.
“They said they could go 1 v 1. It is a big difference, as good as they are – they have positives over Cancelo and Zinchenko. These two can do it, and it allows others to have freedom on the pitch. I thought the back four were phenomenal.
“The back four, Akanji, Ake, are wonderful. Dias, the amount of blocks he put in, and Stones with the ball – that platform helps everything else, and they capitalised.
“Today, we saw City enjoy the element of defending. It is a huge art.”