Leroy Sane believes that the comeback victory over Hoffenheim to cement their place at the top of their Champions League group proves that they have the spring back in their step after losing their Premier League lead last weekend.
The Germany international turned Wednesday night’s tie on its head when he struck a brilliant free-kick to level the scores, before combining with Raheem Sterling to strike City’s second and secure first place in Group F that guarantees them a last-16 clash with one of Atletico Madrid, Schalke, Ajax or Roma.
The performance helped to banish the memories of last weekend’s 2-0 defeat by Chelsea that cost City top spot of the Premier League table, but also continued Sane’s rich run of form this season that has helped force his way back into Pep Guardiola’s first team plans.
"At the beginning maybe we were a little bit sleepy but at the end we did it really good," said Sane. "We woke up and played really good football. I am happy, especially with the way we played altogether.
"I think in my professional career I have never scored a free-kick. I thought this was the moment and I just tried it."
The second goal was City at their counter-attacking best as they flooded from one end of the pitch to the other, with Sane quick to praise fellow forward Sterling for laying the ball on a plate for him to grab his second.
"I thought Raheem was running in space and I wanted to give him the ball so he could go one-on-one.
"But he's got good vision, a good eye, and he saw the run coming and passed again to me. I just had to tap in the ball. It was a really good goal."
Sane could easily have had a hat-trick to his name, but elected against showing late on in order to set-up teammate Bernardo Silva, who saw his effort saved by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. A third would have eased City’s nerves heading into the final minutes, but Sane rued the fact that the team missed out on the goal rather than his own personal haul.
"I just regret we didn't score the goal,” he said. “It was three against just the goalkeeper.
"I thought I would pass to Bernardo and he would just have to tap the ball in but my eye wasn't as good as Raheem's. I think it would have been better if I'd just shot the ball in but at the end we are all happy we won."
City can reclaim the advantage in the Premier League this weekend with a favour from their rivals as Manchester United take on Liverpool, knowing that any result against Jurgen Klopp’s side will send them back into first place providing they beat Everton on Saturday afternoon.
