Slovan Bratislava forward appears to have retired immediately after crushing Manchester City defeat | OneFootball

Manchester City’s dominant 0-4 win over Slovan Bratislava in the UEFA Champions League appears to have been followed up by the retirement of one forward.

Pep Guardiola and his players secured their first three points of the brand new UEFA Champions League format in Slovakia this week, following a matchday one meeting with Inter that resulted in a 0-0 draw between the two sides.

First-half goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden set the side on their way to a comfortable victory, before the second portion of 45 minutes brought more of the same in terms of patterns of play and goals, with Erling Haaland and James McAtee adding to the scoring.

But some of the contest was centred around the romantic story of Vladimir Weiss and the former Manchester City Academy star – who went on to make senior appearances for the club – being reunited with the Etihad club for the first time in a lengthy career.

Following an emotional address in his pre-match press conference and a conversation with Pep Guardiola at full-time indicating the contest being his final game, Weiss now appears to have called time on his top-level professional career.

Weiss’ father and Slovan Bratislava manager, Vladimir Weiss also pointed towards a retirement as he explained in his post-match press conference, “Vladimir will make his own announcement in the next few days.

“But yes, I believe that was his last game. I’m his father and manager and it’s hard for me. Everything begins and ends at some point. It will also happen to me too.”

Speaking after the game, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola also appeared to indicate that a retirement was on the cards for the Bratislava winger, but also welcomed the former Etihad player back to the club for a visit whenever he wished.

“He asked to come to visit us in Manchester, and we would be delighted,” Guardiola told reporters in Slovakia this week. “He was part of the club and so on, and I asked him what’s next, and he said, ‘Maybe manager in the future, we will see!’ It was a good night for him!”

With the new format of the Champions League pairing clubs against one another in one-off meetings in the order of the draw back in August, there will be no competitive return for Slovan Bratislava to the Etihad Stadium unless the two clubs meet in the knock-out stage.