Guardiola praises 'aggressive' Grealish on return from injury in Champions League win

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola hailed Jack Grealish's performance after playing an hour in his first game back from injury in Tuesday's 4-0 Champions League win at Sevilla.< /p>

Grealish had not played since City's 4-0 Premier League win over Bournemouth on August 13 due to a minor injury.

The pressure is on the 26-year-old England international, who was disappointed in his first season at City after joining Aston Villa in August last year for £100million.

Grealish played 38 times, scoring six goals in all competitions last season for City, but failed to live up to expectations of his high transfer fee, nor play with his typical freedom.

The midfielder started and played 62 minutes against Sevilla, and although he didn't score or provide an assist, Guardiola was delighted with his return.

"Jack arrived in an incredible way during pre-season," Guardiola said in the post-match press conference.

"In the first game against West Ham, unfortunately, he got slightly injured. It's important for him to have those 53, 60 minutes again."

"The pitch was uncomfortable for the players. He was so aggressive in the first half, more than aggressive than Phil [Foden] in terms of goals and movement.

"Sometimes I missed the last pass but it's not easy there. We need him a lot this season. Jack will be so important. He played a very good game.”

Guardiola was also delighted with the debut of Manuel Akanji, who joined the team's training earlier this week after leaving Borussia Dortmund.

"We are delighted to have only trained for a day and a half with us," Guardiola said.

"He showed Dortmund his experience in Europe. A very, very good central defender that City gave us.

"He played very well, his concentration, his attention. He has a quality quite similar to Aymer [Laporte], he can break the lines with a pass. He read the spaces very well. I'm very happy for him."

Erling Haaland has scored two of City's four goals, taking his tally for the season to 12 since leaving Dortmund.

"I think his numbers in his career, not just here, in previous teams are quite similar," Guardiola told BT Sport. "He has an incredible sense of goal."

Haaland became the first City player to score on both his Premier League and Champions League debut for the club.

The 22-year-old is also the fastest player to 25 goals in Champions League history, with 20 games, beating Ruud van Nistelrooy and Filippo Inzaghi's mark of 30 games.