Manchester City: How the top three set the tone for the dominant Champions League in Marseille

Manchester City had a lot of issues to deal with in the first few weeks of the season so their performance in Tuesday’s win against Marseille was exactly what they needed.

But Pep Guardiola’s side replied with an impressive performance in a comfortable 3-0 win This keeps them at the top of Group C, and in addition to the result, there have been many positive results across the field.

This time no problem against five in the back

I was really impressed with the intensity of the entire City team against Marseille and I think the way they went after the French side had a lot to do with their top three.

Raheem Sterling, Ferran Torres and Phil Foden set the tone from the start with their energy, with and without the ball, and their dynamism helped City impose themselves on the game from the start.

Yes, Marseille sat there and stayed low at five on the back so much of the game was played in half. What was striking, however, was how fast the turnover was when City lost the ball.

They would react quickly and win the ball back for putting Marseille under pressure – and they scored their first goal by forcing a mistake on the edge of the home team’s area.

It was very different from the first half of their tie against West Ham at the weekend, when Foden and Torres were both on the bench.

Not a wrong nine-roll for Torres

Seeing Torres at the helm this time was a surprise because I thought Sterling was going to get the job – and the Spaniard wasn’t a false nine either – his role was different which again was a bit unexpected.

Pep told him to stand on the shoulder of the center halves of Marseille and, at his pace, try to get behind their defenses if he could.

With Kevin de Bruyne on the field, it made perfect sense because with a false nine dropping low, the opposing defense can push up and reduce De Bruyne’s space.

Instead, someone who plays fast as number nine has extended the game and given De Bruyne more room to loot.

Torres did well in an unfamiliar position and the only thing I was missing was the hold-up game City would get from Aguero or Jesus – although he did better in the second half.

I’m not sure if having him in this position would ever be a long-term answer, but it certainly worked against Marseille.

I actually think Guardiola will be confusing things with his attack for the next several weeks while he is without Aguero and Jesus, be it with Sterling in an identical role as the one Torres played here or as a false nine.

In the past, Pep De Bruyne has used himself or together with Bernardo Silva, so he has many options.

Sterling, for example, can play anywhere on these three fronts. Pep regularly plays him on the left so he can cut inward to his right to finish, or leave room for his full-back to go far around him.

He’s very good at it but I enjoy seeing him on the right against Marseille and he’s had a productive evening.

De Bruyne was also a pleasure to see, making his first start for City since October 3rd.

Without him they haven’t been quite as good as usual in the past few weeks, but when he’s fully fit and playing like that, you don’t have to worry in attack.

A good team effort

The city’s defense has been viewed as suspicious for some time, but they felt so comfortable in the first hour on Tuesday that their center-backs Aymeric Laporte and Ruben Dias could have put their slippers on.

It took Marseille up to the last half hour to figure out how to get past City’s press, but when they did, Laporte and Dias were ready.

Dias did some really important clearing headers when dangerous balls were dropped into the city area, and it was a really good sign that he didn’t let his focus drop after such an easy opening of the game.

Every City player had that kind of focus and it just seemed like a really good balance for the whole team.

Realizing Marseille could not get out of their own half, Ilkay Gundogan and Oleksandr Zinchenko were allowed to go forward and join the attack.

It turned out to be a very good team effort. In total, 760 of City’s 821 passes were successful, which shows how good they were both collectively and individually.

You have to keep in mind that Marseille lost their last 10 Champions League games. So it was a game City was supposed to win – but they made it look very easy.

Michael Brown spoke to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.