Juventus 2-5 Man City: The Old Lady powerless to withstand a City storm as Pep Guardiola's side thunder into Club World Cup last-16 as group winners

Down in one goalmouth, a member of Manchester City’s ground staff – only supposed to be over in America tending to the training surfaces at their base in Boca Raton – brushed his hand on the grass.

Ninety yards away, a member of the Juventus backroom staff was chucking balls up to see if they bounced properly.

Trepidation in the air, a lack of trust in this Orlando pitch that had a very thin layer of the green stuff on top of the foundations and required an industrial hose to prevent it completely drying out before eventually City cemented top spot, now waiting to see if a last-16 match up with Real Madrid is forthcoming.

The local groundskeepers overdid the watering to such a degree that splashes were visible as Rodri controlled an early ball during a tournament that has taken something of a battering for the quality of its playing areas, Jude Bellingham typically outspoken and suggesting they aren’t easy on the knees.

So while there must have been heavy deliberations around the value of the ultimate decision, to start Rodri for the first time since doing his cruciate and meniscus in September – and the first time since being crowned the world’s best footballer – felt like a bit of a gamble on seemingly the worst pitch City have encountered thus far.

Rodri lasted just over an hour. With a little rust, to be expected given the lay-off. It’ll come in time and he did admit this week that anywhere near his best will take months rather than a couple of substitute appearances during matches already won.

The sight of him twisting or turning balls around the corner in these conditions – the weather was up and down too – surely induced anxiety on the bench. Defensive midfield is the worst possible position to suffer a serious knee injury.

But he came through unscathed as City hammered Juve, looking and feeling slicker than last season. That is down to the new signings, the new coaches as Pep Guardiola searches for a new way of attacking the Premier League.

Jeremy Doku finished a top move, the sort from the early Guardiola era, when slipped through by the industrious Rayan Ait-Nouri after nine minutes before Ederson gifted Juventus an equaliser moments later.

Teun Koopmeiners pounced on Ederson’s attempt at finding Bernardo Silva inside City’s third, sliding underneath the goalkeeper, but that absurdity was trumped by Pierre Kalulu midway through the first half.

Matheus Nunes broke towards the byline, cutting to the back post, and under no pressure Kalulu passed into his own net. The Frenchman, who made his international debut last month, couldn’t even blame a muddle with his feet.

The bizarre continued, with half-time substitute Erling Haaland scoring the scrappiest of his 300 career goals. Nunes was again away, found by Tijjani Reijnders, and his cross hit Haaland’s left foot, then his right as he walked into an empty net. Fellow substitute Phil Foden was later doing similar, tidying up another neat move.

There remained time for Savinho to thrash in a fifth from distance, while Dusan Vlahovic – perennially linked with the Premier League – found a consolation.

Amazing, really, that City conspired to lose 2-0 at Juventus in December.