Grealish claims he can beat any defender one-v-one after scoring on UCL debut

Jack Grealish backs himself against any defender whilst running into the penalty area after his wondergoal earned Manchester City a 6-3 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

The 26-year-old marked his first ever European game with a stunning curling effort in the second-half to help Pep Guardiola's side to victory in their first Champions League group stage game of the season.

After the thrilling game at the Etihad Stadium, Grealish revealed his delight about scoring at continental level for the first time and claimed he can beat any player in the world when in that position off the left-hand side.

He told BT Sport: 'The ball came to me and when I'm in that position, running into the area, I'd back myself one on one against anyone. Luckily it paid off and I managed to hit the back of the net this time.

'I had a few in the first half that got blocked. But I'm delighted to get the goal.'

Grealish's goal was City's fourth of the night after Nathan Ake's header , Nordi Mukiele's comical own goal and Riyad Mahrez's penalty, but two strikes from Christoph Nkunku kept the German side in the game.

Nkunku completed his hat-trick just after Grealish's stunner, but Joao Cancelo's long-range effort make it 5-3 and put the game beyond the Bundesliga side.

Former City defender Angelino was sent off for a second bookable offence late on which was followed by Gabriel Jesus' close-range finish to round off the scoring.

Grealish was playing in his first Champions League game for new club City since making his £100million move from Aston Villa over the summer and the midfielder admitted he has been earmarking this game for some time.

'I loved it,' he added. 'I've been waiting a while. The past few weeks, I couldn't wait for this game. It's a great night.

'It was one of those games. It had absolutely everything. In the end we're delighted to get the win against a good team full of energy and young players. I'm delighted to come away with the three points - and the goal and assist.

'I went to check the result from the other game (Club Bruges 1-1 PSG) and it shows anything can happen in the Champions League. It's why it's such a wonderful competition. With the music and everything [before the game] it was so nice.'

Even though Grealish claimed a goal and an assist on the night, he was still publicly reprimanded by Guardiola after the full-time whistle over his defensive work rate in the game.

Explaining the angry discussion with Guardiola, Grealish said: 'That was just defensive work, I won’t go too much into it because he might want the same tactics at the weekend.

'That’s what the manager is like, he’s always wanting more defensively and offensively, and he’s obviously someone that I’m going to listen to after everything he’s done in the game. He’s just giving out useful information.'