Manchester City sauntered through to the Champions League quarter-finals as Wednesday's second leg against Sporting CP proved entirely academic, a 0-0 draw sealing a 5-0 aggregate win.
Armed with their handsome lead from the first leg in Portugal, City barely got out of first gear and nor did they need to.
Gabriel Jesus had a goal disallowed for a tight offside, and Riyad Mahrez saw a shot blocked as City went close to a late winner.
Even Scott Carson, the rarely seen reserve goalkeeper, got a run-out for the last 17 minutes, pulling off a fine save to deny Paulinho and taking a whack for his efforts.
Last season's runners-up are favourites with many to carry off the trophy this year and this was as much of a formality as Champions League knockout games come.
Sensibly, Pep Guardiola gave a rest to derby-day destroyers Kevin De Bruyne, on a yellow card, and Mahrez, benching both. This was no night for risk-taking, but still it was unlike City for it to reach the 24th minute before they registered a first shot at goal, Phil Foden's drive from 20 yards tipped behind by Antonio Adan.
Raheem Sterling was thwarted when he looked to dink over the goalkeeper after Foden's sharp pass found his England colleague, as City, who led 4-0 at half-time in the first leg, drew a blank in this opening 45 minutes.
Teenager CJ Egan-Riley was tidy at right-back on his Champions League debut, while Oleksandr Zinchenko featured on the opposite flank and was given a huge pre-match roar, the crowd firmly behind the Ukrainian amid the unfolding dire events in his homeland.
Wizardry from substitute Mahrez created an opening from Jesus to strike from a tight angle to the left of goal in the 47th minute. Cue joyful celebrations, but a VAR check showed the Brazilian was a shade offside.
In 2008-09, the only previous season during the Champions League era when Sporting reached the knockout rounds, they lost 5-0 at home to Bayern before being suffering a 7-1 beating in Munich.
They were at least spared such humiliation this time, with City going through the motions rather than for the jugular. Sporting's first shot came in the 57th minute, with Ederson gathering Bruno Tabata's attempt with no trouble.
Chances came and went as Sporting bowed out, John Stones heading over perhaps the best in stoppage time, while Sterling lashed wide with the last kick.
Xavi commits U-turn and elects to stay at Barcelona
Barcelona head coach Xavi will continue in his role next season after an unexpected reversal of his decision to leave at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, according to widespread reports.
The former Barcelona midfielder announced in January that he would walk away from the job at the end of the current season, even though his contract was due to run until the end of the following term.
Xavi acknowledged the Barcelona role had taken its toll but reportedly changed his plans after a meeting with Blaugrana president Joan Laporta on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old was initially appointed as Barca coach in 2021 before leading the LaLiga giants to the top-flight title in the 2022-23 campaign.
Xavi's initial announcement of his intentions to depart Barcelona came after a tough period following defeats to Girona, Real Madrid and Athletic Club before revealing the news in the aftermath of a 5-3 loss to Villarreal.
The Blaugrana turned their fortunes around after that decision became public, though, going 13 games unbeaten across all competitions.
Unsurprisingly, that run encouraged Laporta, vice president Rafa Yuste and sporting director Deco to plead with Xavi to continue until the end of his agreed contract.
Though that undefeated streak ended with a 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that dumped Barcelona out of the Champions League quarter-finals, Xavi has now agreed to stay in his role.
The league title is almost out of reach this term, however, as Real Madrid moved 11 points clear of second-placed Barca with Sunday's 3-2 Clasico victory.
Premier League title race gets Man City's blood pumping - Guardiola
Pep Guardiola relishes the decisiveness of the Premier League run-in, as Manchester City prepare for another huge game in the title race.
The Citizens breezed past Luton Town 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium in their last outing in the competition, but were not in Premier League action at the weekend.
While they booked a place in the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win against Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal went back to the summit by recording wins over Wolves and the Blues before Liverpool also leapfrogged Guardiola’s team with a 3-1 victory at Fulham on Sunday.
City, who will be without the injured Erling Haaland, face Brighton on Thursday, in what is one of their two games in hand on the Gunners.
Asked how he feels going into the final few games of the season with so much on the line, Guardiola said: “Every game is adrenalin. Every game is important. But yes it’s decisive. Every mistake or every step back makes it more difficult. It is what it is.
“We have been here in the last years fortunately many times so that’s why we know what we are playing for.”
Guardiola was also questioned about the criticism levelled at match officials after Nottingham Forest’s strongly worded statement following their 2-0 defeat at Everton on Sunday.
"Absolutely disagree. In every league in the world, this kind of thing will happen more and more, but of course, I never had doubts about that,” said Guardiola.
"They make a mistake, they feel bad. It's normal. When they do the job, they want to do it well. The game is so difficult, it is fast and quick, decisions have to be made in one instant. It's not easy.”
Haaland out of Brighton clash, confirms Man City boss Guardiola
Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland when they take on Brighton, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
Haaland missed Saturday's FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea with a muscular injury he sustained against Real Madrid last week.
And the issue will also see the striker, who has scored 20 Premier League goals this season, miss out against the Seagulls on Thursday.
"Erling is not ready for tomorrow," said Guardiola, who added that City will be able to call on Phil Foden and John Stones.
"It's not a big issue but he's not available."
Haaland has scored, on average, every 109 minutes in the league this season.
However, the Norwegian has actually underperformed his expected goals (xG) of 23.7.
He has also chipped in with five assists, giving him an overall goal contributions tally of 25. Haaland has created 28 goalscoring chances for team-mates across the campaign.
After Arsenal's 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea on Tuesday, reigning Premier League champions Manchester City sit four points off the summit in third place, albeit with two games in hand.
Second-place Liverpool will aim to move level on points with the Gunners by beating Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday.
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