After Manchester City's rout of Real Madrid 4-0 at the Etihad on Wednesday, Jack Grealish received high accolades as the winger set the mark for the most chances created by an Englishman in a Champions League season.
Rio Ferdinand, Joleon Lescott, and Michael Owen, analysts for BT Sport, praised the City winger's outstanding performance as Pep Guardiola's team easily qualified for next month's Champions League final versus Inter.
With two well-taken goals before halftime, Bernardo Silva finished off a commanding first-half performance by the home team, putting the defending Premier League champions in control with a 3-1 aggregate advantage.
A historic night at the Etihad saw City advance to the final with two late goals from Manuel Akanji and substitute Julian Alvarez, bringing the perennial domestic winners closer to an unprecedented treble.
Grealish produced his 35th Champions League opportunity this season during City's electrifying display on Wednesday, breaking the record for most opportunities produced in a single season since the statistics were originally gathered in 2003-04.
After joining City for 100 million, the former Aston Villa star faced some detractors in his first season at the Etihad, but he has now established himself as a crucial cog in Guardiola's treble-chasing strategy.
Following City's dominant performance, Manchester United legend Ferdinand lauded Guardiola and City's recruitment team for seeing Grealish as the ideal fit back in 2021.
Ferdinand asserted, "It was careful recruitment." 'Guardiola noticed something and thought, "This will be different from what I've had before."
He was being played by Raheem Sterling at the time. Although he was a totally different athlete, he recognized something in Jack that made him believe it would add another dimension to this team.
He focuses on keeping the ball, holding onto it, and allowing players to pass through him. And that makes room for other players. For instance, (Ilkay) Gundogan flies into the pockets where players are being dragged toward Jack.
Whether it's Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, or Gundogan occasionally, it's not only what he does that sets off other people.
And by the way, take a look at this squad's depth. Mahrez can't join this team, says Riyad. (Julian) Alvarez and Phil Foden. He enters the game and scores; he won the World Cup. Their depth is simply amazing.
After the game, Lescott joined Ferdinand pitchside and said, "They're remarkable." They seen what Jack Grealish was doing at Aston Villa and thought, "If we can get him into those positions at Manchester City, he'll be playing with better players and will have more options." This shows that Jack Grealish has transferrable talents. Credit goes to everybody involved.
Grealish joined the BT Sport panel to reflect on making it to the final in Istanbul the following month after celebrating the wonderful result with his teammates.
Grealish pushed, "(It was) incredible.We spoke last week following the game, and I was simply thrilled to be involved and such at the time. I sound like a youth team player even if I'm not active!
But it was amazing just to be there, and a week later, I'm back in this spot and it's 4-0. Real Madrid wouldn't likely be attacked like that by many teams, but when we play together, especially here, we truly feel unstoppable. What it is, I have no idea.
"I recently saw a statistic of one of our Champions League games and I couldn't believe it. As for how many games we've drawn away from home in the Champions League this season, I believe we've drawn five, but we've won every game at home.
"I don't know what it is about here (the Etihad); maybe it's the supporters, but when we play on our home field, we feel unbeatable and unbeatable. You have seen what we did to Bayern Munich, Leipzig, and this particular location tonight. It's incredible.
Kyle Walker joined the in-form winger to analyze the game, and Grealish continued to make fun of Walker's criticism of his play throughout the season.
Walker responded, heaping praise on Grealish, saying, "I play directly against him in training and he's a nightmare." He's doing what he needs to for the club at this stage in the season, so he really can't do much better.
"Raz (Sterling) was more focused on tricks and goals, goals, goals when he first arrived here. Given his contributions in other areas of the field, if Gralish adds that to his repertoire and scores a few more goalsI'd estimate 10 a seasonthat will distinguish him from the competition.
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