Salzburg reax

Daniel Taylor, The Guardian

Operating at the front tip of a midfield diamond, Silva played as though he wanted to shed himself of any frustrations, a firefly of a player, always wanting the ball, elusive to mark and, when he had possession, running with his head up, looking for the killer pass.

Chris Wheeler, Daily Mail

A stuttering start to life in England and concerns about his slight frame being suited to the physical demands of the Premier League have led some to wonder whether City had made the right decision in paying Valencia £24million for the Spain forward this summer.

But manager Roberto Mancini insisted on the eve of his side's opening Group A clash he had no doubts Silva was ready to deliver, and the World Cup winner took less than eight minutes to start proving him right as his first goal in a City shirt helped his club launch their Europa League campaign with a win in this picturesque Austrian city.

Sandy Macaskill, Daily Telegraph

Jo exhibited signs of rust, but he created Silva’s goal and generally made a nuisance of himself, scoring his first goal for City since September 2008, his fourth goal in total, but it was Silva’s performance which will have been the one on supporters lips last night.

Even though he has only been in the England since July, the 24 year-old has already been criticised as too lightweight for the Premier League. Not a bit of it: his eyes, like a lizard, permanently on a swivel, makes his size inconsequential. On this evidence he will soon challenge those stick-in-the-muds who think you must be built like a baobab tree to cut the mustard in English football. “He is a fantastic player, he can play in every position,” Mancini said.

Salzburg player ratings

Hart A fairly quiet evening in terms of shot stopping. Red Bulls did pose an aerial threat, and while he miscued one punch he was generally firm underneath it. 6

Zabaleta Always nice to see my favourite player involved. He played fairly well, giving us important width outside Yaya, and always keen to be involved in the final third. Put in a decent cross or two. Could have been booked for a late tackle. Moved to left back later on. 6

Kolo Touré Another competent game,warning off problems when they threatened to emerge. Sound under balls into the box. 7

Kompany Smooth and powerful, again. He had to make some crucial interventions on the edge of the box, and he did so perfectly. 7

Bridge His first start of the season, he gave some much needed natural width down the left. Joleon Lescott tries hard but he's so diffident with his running and crossing; Bridge was refreshingly cavalier. His low cross to Jô led to Silva's goal, and there was another good near post delivery later on. A competent return. 6

de Jong His best game of the season so far. He commanded the space in front of our back four, winning every tackle, closing down space and moving the ball to our more imaginative midfielders with no fuss or pause. Would get an '8' but gets a point knocked off for a nasty two-footed jump tackle. 7

Yaya Touré Fairly quiet. Made some physical interventions when needed but didn't impose himself on the game in the manner that he can. 6

Barry An energetic return to the side, he ably broke into the box when necessary, as well as covering defensively centrally or down the left. His versatility makes him well-suited to that role on a corner of a diamond. 7

Silva His best game for City. He was trusted with a start in his preferred position - on the tip of the diamond - but he drifted deep into midfield or into the right channel at will. His intelligence and ability marks him out as a footballer from a different category, tonight more than ever. Scored his first goal for City, breaking through the middle, and ought to have had a second. 8

Tévez Energetic, without quite finding the ruthless edge of last season. He caused problems, dropping, turning and running at the defence, and it was his vicious shot that led to our second goal. The goals will come in time. 7

Jô His first goal in almost exactly two years (since 21 September 2008), it marks a remarkable transformation in his career. Mancini tried to redeem the City career of Benjani - but to do so with Jô would be a whole new achievement. His goal was well-executed, to be fair, as was his lay-off to Silva in the first half. Those two moments aside, the ball just bounced off him. 6

Subs:

Boyata Had a decent run at right-back. Good physicality but he's not Maicon yet. 6

Vieira Kept things ticking over in the middle. n/a

SWP Too late to mark n/a

Red Bull Salzburg 0 - 2 City

• Tradition won out. The callous franchise outfit, the caffeine-drink hawkers were routed by romantics of Manchester City, pierced by strikes from local lads David Silva and Jô; the greatest such triumph since the 1967 European Cup final in Lisbon. (This might be the last time I can write this, I need to extract every drop while I can.)

• To give it the right kind of praise, though: this was a European performance of almost perfect application. I've got an uncharacteristic confidence about the Europa League this year, and this felt like precisely the sort of performance that might take us far. We controlled possession, suggesting that playing three defensive midfielders might not be quite as pointless as Tony Cascarino suspects it to be. Our attacks were built around Silva and Carlos Tévez, who look and play with the kinship and understanding of cousin imps, both dropping off Jô, running at defenders, linking well with team-mates and of course with each other. Thirteen more performances like this and we'll be flooding Dublin in May.

• It helped that RBS were defensively incontinent, lacking any control or discipline. At the least I expected them to be well organised. We were arranged in a 4-4-2 diamond, with Silva at the peak. It was from a forward break of his that we scored our first - arriving in the box to slot home Jô's lay-off from Wayne Bridge's cross. The goalkeeper might have done better, as he might with our second - when he palmed a Carlos Tévez shot into the path of Jô, who finished smartly. That's not to say that our only chances came through errors - both Silva and Tévez went close at other times, and on another day we might have scored three or four more.

• All this was founded on another solid midfield performance. It was another outing for the iron triangle of Nigel de Jong, Yaya Touré and Gareth Barry - clearly the default foundation stone for any potentially challenging game. They controlled the play - de Jong had his best game this season. We won't do anything in Europe without being able to keep the ball, and whatever you think about the suitability of Mancini's approach in the Premier League it's certainly and obviously appropriate for European competition. There were times when Red Bull slung some balls into the box under which we looked vulnerable, but I rarely felt like the win was in jeopardy.

• Progress from the group stages requires three wins and a draw or two. We could very easily throw it away from here, but there is no doubt that this is a strong start. Juventus at home will be very different. But we've got three games in two different competitions between now and then. Rotating enough to maintain freshness while not doing so much as to dissipate momentum is Mancini's next task. James Milner and Adam Johnson in on Sunday, I think.

Salzburg preview

For the first time in years, and possibly the last time ever, City will be on the side of tradition and romance in club football this evening. We're playing Red Bull Salzburg, a club birthed by the annexation of SV Austria Salzburg by the Red Bull company five years ago. On taking over Austria Salzburg (once managed by a certain Hans Backe), Red Bull re-named, re-badged and re-kitted the club, all in the name of selling caffeine drinks.

If you think that City are pissing on the traditions and dignities of club football, just check these guys out; it's serious MK Dons stuff.

Writing about this allows me to get past the fact that I know less than nothing about them as a football team. I've never seen them play before, nor have I seen any of their players representing other clubs or countries. Wikipedia tells me they've won the Austrian Bundesliga three of the last four years, and that they made the Champions League play-off this summer but lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv. In the Europa League group stage last year, they won all six games in a group containing Lazio and Villareal so they can't be too bad.

So in terms of expectations I can only work from general principles. And they dictate that away draws ought to be the target. Three wins and a draw or two are usually enough to get through to the last 32. I'd take a point tonight, I think. Particularly as Jô might be playing. With Mario Balotelli and Manu Adebayor out injured, we're just left with him and Carlos Tévez up front. David Silva will be playing, and either Wayne Bridge or Pablo Zabaleta will come in at left back. I don't know how we'll line up, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Silva coming inside - maybe playing alongside Tévez just behind Jô in that 4-1-2-2-1 we've seen a few times.

The Europa League is a bit of a schlep; we're still fourteen games from Lansdowne Road. But we've got the squad and the experience to do it. I fancy a controlled draw tonight.