Manchester City completed the formalities of their one-sided English League Cup semifinal against third-tier Burton Albion, winning the second leg 1-0 on Wednesday for a 10-0 victory on aggregate.
Sergio Aguero, one of the few senior players fielded by City on a freezing night in central England, scored the only goal of the game in the 26th minute to lift the English champions to double figures across the two legs.
This game had been rendered virtually meaningless by the first leg at Etihad Stadium two weeks ago, when City racked up a 9-0 win to record the largest margin of victory in the semifinals of an English cup competition.
One noteworthy aspect of the second leg was the return of City left back Benjamin Mendy, who has been out for 10 weeks with a knee injury. The France international came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute.
AP
Welcome
It's just the nine goal deficit that Burton must overturn tonight, YES NINE, which begs the question: Is this the strangest semi-final ever?
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Team news
Clough calls for respect
Nigel Clough does not feel the scale of Burton's achievement is fully appreciated as they prepare to host Manchester City.
The second leg at the Pirelli Stadium on Wednesday night is obviously a dead rubber, but Clough said: "It'll probably never happen again. To beat the team's we've beaten to get here and end up in the last four with Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham - three of the best sides in Europe.
"It's amazing, really, and the fact that the semi-finals are over two legs helps emphasise that.
"I saw a statistic on the TV recently that had our budget at £8m. If you took 30 per cent of that then you might be nearer the actual figure. We didn't have a budget of £8m when we were in the Championship.
"The likelihood of us ever making the second leg competitive were very slim and I think what will strike them more than anything, their players and staff, is when they come here and take a look around our little ground and see the size of club we are.
"I think they will ask themselves, I hope, how a club of our size has made it to the last four of a major cup competition. I want them to take that away more than anything else when they come here as then I think they might be able to comprehend the scale of our achievement."
Such is the gulf between the two clubs, Clough believes just scoring a goal against Pep Guardiola's team would be a "wonderful achievement" for his League One side.
Asked what Burton can possibly glean from the return game, the Albion boss said: "It will be about little milestones, and pride of course. If we could get a goal then that would be a wonderful achievement.
"If one of our players could score against one of the best teams in Europe then that would be a milestone for us, and a wonderful individual milestone for whoever got a goal."
Clough also wants his players to show more aggression in the second leg, saying: "I was disappointed we didn't get a booking in Manchester.
"You would hope that at seven, eight, 9-0 down one of the players would feel upset enough to get closer and put a foot in. That was the most disappointing thing from the first game." (PA)
Guardiola: Young players earn their place
Pep Guardiola has named a side with a mix of world class experience and youth, but will not allow the younger players to get carried away.
"I'm pretty sure they are motivated to play in the first team, to play alongside incredible players in competitions and semi-finals. Of course, they are going to be motivated," he said.
"But they have to know how difficult it is to achieve (a place in) the first squad and the first team, not just in Man City but everywhere.
"It is a massive opportunity for them to be close to the first team but it is not easy. We don't give presents because they are nice or something special. It depends on them.
Last time
Manchester City's 9-0 win against Burton in the first leg should definitely only be showed after the watershed.
Kevin De Bruyne, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez were all on target as Gabriel Jesus scored five during City's demolition job over their League One opponents.
The nine goal scoreline equaled a record in City's history, and when the ninth went in on 83 minutes, there was an odd rise in expectation as the searched for a record 10th goal.
De Bruyne Pep's selection
Kevin De Bruyne explains why he is playing: "It’s more difficult if you play a week, then it’s 7 or 8 days you don’t play & then you play again. You get the rhythm, but not the rhythm you need to play every e days. I need some games where I can play more regularly like 3 or 4 games in a row to get my rhythm.”
VAR
A reminder that everyone's favourite video assistant referee is in use this evening, wonder if it will make a call that changes the course of the tie? No, me neither.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
3 mins: De Bruyne appears to be taking a slightly deeper role in the midfield three, it seems Delph and Foden will be the legs getting ahead of him in attacks.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
5 mins: Burton are already doing better than they were this time at the Etihad, after five minutes Gabriel Jesus had already put City ahead!
This time around and Burton have actually started fairly well. They have defended well as a group and threatened on counter attacks through Templeton on the left-wing, although they remain well shy of causing serious problems. It's a start.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
9 mins: Mahrez twists, turns and twists again to work space for a cross to Aguero, who tries to touch down his pass at the back post but Collins collects in the Burton goal. The first bit of action for a goalkeeper you suspect might be in for a busy evening. Just a hunch.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
5 mins: Latest observations: watching De Bruyne and Zinchenko playing on the same pitch is like those rare occasions when the Fabio twins used to line up together for Manchester United.
Anyway, Mahrez goes close after collecting Delph's cross-field ball then firing an effort from a tight angle beyond the far post as Collins watched on.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
13 mins: There's a couple of tasty challenges on De Bruyne as Guardiola watches on from his borrowed bus shelter.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
14 mins: Delph suffers a lapse in concentration and concedes a foul on Boyce in a wide attacking area and Burton almost score! Boyce works his way to the near post and tries to convert the low cross from the right by dragging the ball in as he spins on the spot. It almost comes off but all the pace on the ball has gone by the time Muric gets his long frame to the ground to prevent the ball tricking into the bottom corner.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
18 mins: Mahrez gets another shot away and fires wide for the second time in about five minutes. McCrory is certainly earning his wage in dealing, or rather attempting, to deal with him.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
Strong pose, this. He's thought about this for a while.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
19 mins: Harness puts pressure on Zinchenko as City come under pressure from Burton's press, yes that's in the correct order. Zinchenko is initially beaten to the ball but recovers well and wins back possession as Harness tried to advance towards the box with the ball.
Burton 0-0 Manchester City (0-9)
23 mins: One quarter of the way through the match and you have to say this is exactly how Burton would have wanted this game to go, well minus a goal.
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