By the time they finished their pre-match training at Camp Nou and returned to the visitors' dressing room, Man City had already received Barcelona's starting lineup.
To be fair, Mourinho was truly bold. The starting lineup was exactly the same as the one he had announced earlier.
That left everyone wondering: where did he get his confidence?
Or did he really have some secret weapon?
Otherwise, how could he explain announcing his starting lineup a full day in advance?
That simply made no sense.
Regardless, the authenticity of the lineup had now been verified.
No one at Man City was discussing or studying the lineup anymore, or trying to guess Barcelona's tactics. Most were focused on adjusting their own condition, discussing the finer points of their upcoming combinations on the pitch with their teammates, and considering the team's overall performance.
Man City was also fielding its strongest lineup for this match.
Courtois was in goal. The back four consisted of Marcelo, Pepe, Kompany, and Zabaleta. Busquets played as the holding midfielder, with David Silva and Toni Kroos in the middle. Up front was the trio of Di Maria, Su Dong, and Sánchez.
On the Champions League stage, Guardiola preferred using Di Maria rather than Hazard.
It was not for any other reason than the fact that Di Maria and Sánchez both possessed outstanding ability to break through into space. As long as they were given enough room, they could tear open a defense.
By comparison, Hazard was the kind of player who liked to receive the ball, mainly responsible for advancing with possession and drawing defensive attention.
This reflected Man City's two different attacking approaches, both of which revolved around Su Dong.
If Guardiola wanted Su Dong to drop deeper and form a midfield possession square with David Silva, Toni