Manchester City played their final group stage fixture of the FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday evening, where they secured a massive 5-2 win over Juventus.
Manchester City had made an early qualification to the round of 16 after their 2-0 win over Wydad and 6-0 win over Al Ain, which put them on six points, as were Juventus, who also claimed victories over the same opponents.
Despite both the Sky Blues and Juventus already booked in for the last 16, they still had the match with one another to go, one that would see them finish off this stage of the Club World Cup. But, the game still had a lot of importance in it as it would determine who would win the group.
Going into the fixture, both clubs were on equal points, meaning whoever won would see themselves go to the top. A draw would have been enough for Juventus, due to their goal difference.
However, despite the expectation that this would have been a close game, Manchester City completely blew away their opposition.
Nine minutes was all it took for Manchester City to get ahead, with Jeremy Doku scoring the goal.
But the advantage didn't last long as Koopmeiners equalised in the 11th minute. Before halftime, the Cityzens got back in front due to a Kalulu goal.
The second half was one-way traffic as Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Savinho all added to the scoreline. Juventus's Dusan Vlahovic did get one more back for his side, but nothing more than that.
The match ended 5-2 for Manchester City, a score that maybe the majority wouldn't have guessed. The victory put the Sky Blues right at the top of their group, with Juventus coming second.
This means that while Juventus played Group H winners Real Madrid, Manchester City will play Group H's runners-up, Al Hilal.
Pep Guardiola reaction
"It doesn't matter what happened; the first target was to qualify, but we never know if it's better to finish first or second. It's how we play every game, to win it. Today we did it, that's what I'm pleased about."
"The players know it was the first time in a long time that we performed the way we performed. I'm really pleased because the most important thing is the players have to realise what we have to do."
"The important thing today is that we'd already qualified, so to go through, you have to beat the best teams, you can face them before or after."
"The most important thing is that we can do it again. I had the feeling the players felt, I didn't have to tell them, they felt we can compete in that way."
"We want to stay here longer. We want to win the World Cup because the important thing is to connect ourselves."