Part of the thinking behind the signing of Brazilian in 2017 was that he would in time become Manchester City’s most effective striker. Perhaps this has now happened
Glory, glory Hallelujah, é Gabriel Jesus. The busker outside the Maracanã knew his audience. For a while the walkway to the stadium was closed before Brazil’s Olympic final, the pre-match crowd backing up down the stairs as fans in yellow shirts sang along to the in-vogue dirge of the Rio games, a chant set to the tune of the US civil war song about John Brown’s body mouldering in his grave, and adapted here to take in the feats of a slightly-built 19-year-old utility attacker from the northern slums of São Paulo.
Six months on from the Rio Games Jesus would find himself looking a little cold and sad on breaks from hotel life in wintry Lancashire, a latecomer to the first raft of players to join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Fast forward another three years, 38 goals, four trophies and two semi-serious injuries, and City’s roving centre-forward produced his best moment to date in a sky blue shirt on Wednesday night.
Related: Guardiola dips into his bible to find tactical blueprint for win in Madrid | Jonathan Wilson
Related: There is something shifting at Real Madrid, some sense of vulnerability | Sid Lowe
Continue reading...