The most expensive side of all time, Manchester City, crashed out of the FA Cup on Monday, as their dreams of a quadruple came to an abrupt end. The team that managed to beat England's best? A Wigan side that cost 0.57% of what Guardiola's side did, and who only had 17.5% possession.
When Will Grigg's 79th minute goal knocked Manchester City out of the FA Cup on Monday night, it was arguably the biggest upset in the history of the competition. In a tournament that is famed for its 'giant killing' and 'cup magic', this seems like a bold statement, but when you take a look at the statistics the result begins to look inconceivable.
The Man City side that Paul Cook's team managed to defeat at the DW Stadium are the best team in England, by a long way. They are the top scorers in English football, with a staggering 114 goals in all competitions, and it's only February. They have only been beaten by two other times this season, once by a Liverpool side who are third in the Premier League, once by Ukranian champions Shakhtar Donetsk. They have also only been kept from scoring twice, by Crystal Palace and Wolves, which makes Wigan the only side to beat them and keep a clean sheet.
Even the statistics from the game itself make it hard to believe that the 'Latics' walked away victorious. City had 82.5% possession in the game, Wigan therefore only having the ball for 17.5% of the tie. City had 29 shots, 17 of which were on target, and Wigan only hit the target 2 times (with their 2 other shots missing).
Perhaps, you may think, Guardiola had fielded a second string side, full of youth players? Nope, City's starting XI was worth £349m, with key players such as Sergio Aguero, David Silva, John Stones, Leroy Sane and new boy Aymeric Laporte all starting the game, in what was clearly an important game for Pep.
Compare this to League One side Wigan Athletic. Their XI cost a grand total of £2m, £1.3m of which was spent on heroic goalscorer Will Grigg, who is now the top scorer in the FA Cup this season. The rest of the money went on Jack Byrne (£531k), with 8 of the players in Paul Cook's team having joined Wigan on a free transfer.
The victory was a testament to the quality of Wigan's defence, which is evidenced by the fact that they have only conceded 18 goals this season, making them the most defensively solid side in England's top four leagues. It now remains to be seen how far the League One side can go in the competition, their next test being a clash against Southampton in March.