Manchester City rounded off their Champions League group-stage campaign with a 3-1 win against Sevilla on Wednesday evening, although ultimately the final result mattered little.
City went in to half-time 1-0 down after Rafa Mir gave the Spanish side the lead, but a much-improved City turned things around in the second half with goals from Rico Lewis, Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez.
City went into the game having already secured top spot in Group G and a place in the last-16, and with Sevilla guaranteed of a third-place finish no matter the outcome, the meeting was essentially a dead-rubber. The match was far from insignificant though, as City's players reaching a handful of milestones and landmarks while the Blues equalled a record that has stood for 13 years.
READ MORE: Alvarez does what some City teammates fail to in Sevilla win
De Bruyne magic
Kevin De Bruyne was introduced as a 70th-minute substitute, and three minutes later he had already delved into his box of tricks and stunned the City crowd. His superb ball in-behind the Sevilla defence set Alvarez up to score City's second goal of the night, and it also meant De Bruyne reached a new landmark.
The Belgian now has 40 direct goal contributions (goals and assists) in his last 41 games in all competitions, more than any other Premier League player over the same period.
In the footsteps of Messi
During Tuesday's pre-match press conference, Alvarez spoke about the impact Lionel Messi has had on him and the joys of playing alongside his idol for the Argentina national team. Perhaps Alvarez was given extra motivation by that line of questioning, as on Wednesday he did something no-one has done since Messi.
At 22 years and 275 days old, Alvarez became the youngest Argentinian player to make three direct goal contributions (one goal and two assists) in a single Champions League game since Messi did so against Bayern Munich in 2009. Messi's coach that day? Pep Guardiola.
Youngest ever
The highlight of the evening was unquestionably 17-year-old Rico Lewis scoring on his full City debut. The academy graduate grew up a City fan, and you could see how much the goal meant to him as he wheeled away in celebration.
The young right-back set two new records as well. At 17 years and 346 days old, he is City's youngest ever Champions League goal-scorer. He's now also the youngest player in the competition's history to score on his first Champions League start, beating Karim Benzema's previous record by six days.
United's record matched
The win was City's 23rd unbeaten home match in the Champions League, a joint record for an English side in the competition. Manchester United set the record in 2009, and City will have the chance to break it outright in the second leg of their last-16 tie in March.
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