De Bruyne delights in comeback
Kevin De Bruyne is a player that gets fans on the edge of their seats before he has kicked a ball, and he was particularly unplayable against RB Leipzig.
The Manchester City playmaker spent the majority of his time trotting around the pitch hunting for an opportunity, and when they arose the swings of his right foot were as devastating as they were delicious.
Poor Nordi Mukiele ended up the most disorientated defender at the Etihad since Yaya Toure destroyed Roger Johnson, as all the French international could do to stop Jack Grealish getting on the end of a particularly inviting ball was to spectacularly nod it past the keeper himself.
Grealish has spoken previously of his excitement at linking up with De Bruyne and the two displayed a promising connection on their first start together.
With three huge games coming up before the next international break, Pep Guardiola will be delighted by De Bruyne's longest outing of the season so far.
Dias leads
De Bruyne was back in the team but it was Ruben Dias who wore the captain's armband against RB Leipzig.
As reported by The Telegraph, Dias has moved ahead of De Bruyne in the list of captains for the season following the latest vote from all the players at the end of the transfer window.
It is still difficult to believe that the centre-back hasn't yet been at the club for a year yet, such is the impact he has had in Manchester.
He didn't add to his clean sheet tally here as the defence switched off to concede some poor goals.
Barmy refereeing
Watching Champions League games gives you a greater appreciation of the standard of Premier League officials.
From the start, it was clear that Serdar Gozubuyuk was all over the place on Wednesday evening, giving Aleks Zinchenko a yellow card for a stray arm that brushed Dani Olmo before failing to book Christopher Nkunku for sending Grealish flying.
When he could not spot the enormous deflection that saw Riyad Mahrez's shot cannon off a defender for a corner, there was no point in trying to fathom any logic to the decision-making.
Premier League refs may get things wrong but they are still far more consistent than the erratic decisions regularly doled out in midweek.
Angelino gets a warm reception
In the pre-match press conference, Angelino said that not making the grade at the Etihad will probably always stay with him but was also frank in admitting that training under Guardiola had helped him more than he had imagined at the time.
Having also come through the City academy, he was happy to be back and he got a good reception from the home supporters too, both when his name was read out before the match and whenever he popped up for a throw-in or corner - as well as when he headed off for an early bath after two yellow cards.
Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.
