Courtois, Kompany, Pepe, Busquets, Sánchez, Toni Kroos, Su Dong, David Silva, Di Maria, Hazard, Javi Martinez.
Ferguson looked at Man City's starting lineup and was extremely surprised.
Although the lineup did not include a formation or tactical assignments for each player, Ferguson's familiarity with Man City allowed him to immediately spot what was unusual about it.
There were no full-backs.
Neither Marcelo nor Zabaleta appeared in the starting lineup. Instead, both were sitting on the bench.
In their place, Pepe and Kompany were starting together, while Javi Martinez was also on the pitch.
Based on the way Guardiola had used Javi Martinez this season, it was obvious that the Spanish midfielder was being converted into a center-back. Did that mean Man City was planning to field three center-backs in this match?
No full-backs and three center-backs—was this an attempt to replicate the three-at-the-back system used during the eras of Cruyff and Van Gaal?
Back when Cruyff and Van Gaal coached Barcelona and Ajax, they had both used three at the back. As tactics evolved, the system gradually fell out of favor. It had been more than a decade since anyone had seen a three-at-the-back system become mainstream.
In the rapidly developing information age, this tactic could practically be classified as an ancient formation.
Ferguson had lived through the eras of Cruyff and Van Gaal and had seen all kinds of tactical systems, so he immediately remembered it. He guessed that Guardiola intended to use a 3-4-3 formation.
But that raised a question: When had Man City ever used this system?
Ferguson tossed the question to assistant coach Mike Phelan, but he did not have any information either.
"From the time Javi Martinez joined the team until now, Man City has never played with three at the back." Mike Phelan was