This was a walkover but real battle yet to come for Pep’s men
THERE is only one clash that matters for Manchester City right now – their battle against UEFA in the courts.
Forget yesterday’s trip to the South Coast, the midweek battle with Bournemouth – or even Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final date against Arsenal.
They all pale into insignificance against the result of the club’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn a two-year Champions League ban.
Win that and Pep Guardiola can focus solely on events on the pitch between now and August.
Lose it, though, and who knows what the mid to long-term repercussions will be for the deposed Premier League champions.
Sure, Guardiola has never broken a contract as a manager – and is unlikely to walk away before the end of next season – whether they are playing against Europe’s elite or not.
But it is hard to see him looking beyond then if City, who are still in this year’s competition, are excluded because of breaking financial fair play rules.
That scenario would immediately throw many other people’s futures at the club up in the air, too.
Namely, those of City’s existing list of stars as well as the next crop being lined up to come in.
Winning domestic tiles and cups is great fun but we all know they are not the real reason the Spanish super-coach and his players are at The Etihad Stadium.
Those pieces of silverware were always seen as stepping stones towards the ultimate dream of conquering Europe.
Take that ambition away and the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling may wonder what is the point of hanging around much longer.
Not that you would have guessed any of that on a sun-soaked evening at the Amex Stadium where City were just way too good for Graham Potter’s Brighton.
They may have lost a few miles down the road at Southampton eight days earlier but there was never any chance of a repeat last night.
Once upon a time Sterling could scarcely strike a long-range shot – let alone actually hit the net with one.
Poor technique meant the England playmaker always failed to get enough purchase and power to actually trouble keepers with a piledriver.
That issue is well and truly in the past now, however, as he demonstrated after 21 minutes with a quite stunning 20-yard curler that flew into the far corner.
Brighton’s excellent Aussie stopper Mat Ryan was absolutely helpless.
It was the 63rd Premier League goal of his City career and by the the final whistle he had moved on to 65 – with a sixth hat-trick – to complete a 5-0 rout for the visitors.
The three points guaranteed City will finish second in the table – thanks to a whoppingly superior goal difference over their nearest rivals.
Which, in turn, meant they had also qualified for next season’s Champions League.
Yet that could all be utterly irrelevant come tomorrow if CAS rule against them and uphold their suspension.
They are high stakes indeed.