It would be easy to dismiss Manchester City's friendly defeat of Girona on Saturday as, well, a bit colourless.
City cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win in a match that lacked an edge, not because City had it all their own way - they didn't - but because of the unusual surroundings and the complete lack of jeopardy.
Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland scored inside the opening 20 minutes, so there was nothing out of the ordinary there. But on a bitterly cold and wet day at the Academy Stadium, the picturesque snow of the past week mostly melted, it wasn't really enough to warm the hands of the couple of thousand supporters in attendance.
But if it wasn't the kind of game to get supporters off their feet, it was the kind of afternoon that gave a glimpse into was promises to be a bright future. A largely youthful crowd, the new generation of City fans - several youngsters sat near the press box were certainly getting into the game, shouting "shoot!" every time City got near the Girona box - watched the next generation of heroes.
No, it wasn't an important match, but it was a chance to see the likes of Haaland and De Bruyne up close and personal in relatively intimate surroundings for a fraction of the usual ticket prices. The two superstars gave their young fans exactly what they wanted to see; Haaland got his goal, and to go with his goal and assist, De Bruyne pulled off two cheeky nutmegs that drew ripples of applause.
The youthful vibe was clear in City's starting XI - Guardiola fielded five academy graduates from the off, with a further four coming off the bench in the second half. The talent bubbling away in City's academy is no secret, but this season the alignment of first team with youth team is clearer than ever.
Rico Lewis was predictably solid at right-back, but it was what he did when City had the ball that was impressive. Everybody knows that Guardiola likes his full-backs to 'invert' and tuck into midfield, but not every defender can do it like Joao Cancelo or Kyle Walker.
Despite the fact that he has only made a handful of senior appearances, Lewis looks more than capable of following his manager's brief. At times he advanced even further up the pitch than Walker would, making runs through the channels like a No.8.
He's clearly an immensely talented individual, but he's also the product of a system that teaches youngsters to play the 'City/Guardiola' way from childhood. That was obvious with teenage centre-backs Shea Charles and Jadel Katongo, too.
The central defensive duo, with a combined age of 37, looked as if they had been passing the ball directly to the feet of midfielders all their footballing lives, that a row-Z hoof was a completely alien concept to them.
There was one moment in the first half that John Stones and Aymeric Laporte would be proud of. With Girona doing their best to disrupt City's flow they pressed high up the field, but Lewis, Charles and Katongo played their way out of trouble as if they were taking part in a training rondo.
Cole Palmer did not put in a headline performance, but he did appear to enjoy himself playing in a midfield role rather than on the wing. Like Phil Foden, Palmer came up through the academy as a midfielder, but so far Guardiola has largely deployed him out wide. With the futures of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva uncertain, the 20-year-old could play there more in years to come.
Morgan Rogers showed glimpses of promise on the wing, and Carlos Borges, Alexander Robertson, Oscar Bobb and Rowan McDonald all got minutes off the bench.
We didn't learn much from City's 2-0 win, and we didn't expect to. Yet, it was nevertheless an interesting watch, one that gave a glimpse into the future both on and off the field.