The Spanish playmaker, 34, scored one, made two more and had a big hand another as City romped to a 5-0 win over Newcastle.
And his boss says he is perhaps the best he has worked with in terms of his style and ability to find spaces that don’t seem to exist.
“What he has done is incredible, fantastic,” said Pep.
“Not just for the game today, for the last 10 years. What we want is for the people to come back to the Etihad for a game for him as one of the legends of the Club.
“In the small spaces, he is maybe the best I have seen.
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“He came back from lockdown in incredible rhythm. If he decided to, he could play anywhere. There’s no doubt about that.
“The level he is at is the best of this season. He is playing really, really good. The fans are not here but he is going to come back to bid them farewell.
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“As I say, the way he works in the pockets, is incredible. The young players learn from David by example, not by the words.
“He’s someone who doesn’t talk much, but he leads by example in the training sessions. He is such a competitor.”
Asked if winning the Champions League would be the perfect send off for ‘El Mago’, he Pep responded: “Of course. For him, for Sergio and it would have been nice for Vincent last season.
“We need one point to be in the UCL next season. On 13 July we’ll know the results (of the appeal) and if we can play in it.
“We won again on the pitch, where we deserved to do. We have spoken about this. We have four incredible weeks ahead of us that will never come back.
“It will come back, but in a different way. This chance we have to get to the FA Cup final and Madrid in the second leg, it depends on us.
“In the game we played against Southampton, we created more chances. I don’t have doubts about these guys.
“This game is about winning, that’s all. We did it in the recent past. We are in a good position in the Premier League, scoring a lot of goals.
“That’s the way we want to play, for our people. Respecting the game of football. That’s it. And prepare well for Arsenal and the second leg for Madrid.
“We have played an incredible high level since lockdown. I didn’t expect it. You have to get results. It would be nice for David and all of us to win the Champions League.”
The boss also admitted he had his heart in his mouth when Kevin De Bruyne went down after a heavy challenge by Danny Rose.
“I was trembling!” he said. “That was scary. But after the third goal he made two big runs and I thought OK he is fit.
“I haven’t spoken to him because of social distancing. We have two or three locker rooms. The doctor hasn’t said anything to me.”
Finally, Pep responded to rumours linking Eric Garcia with Barcelona, saying: “I have no update. He has one year on his contract. If they want him they must call Txiki.
“We are going to try and convince him to stay here for many years.
“I’m confident. But it’s his decision. He knows we want him. It was the same with Leroy. We wanted him but he didn’t want to stay.
“He knows. His agent knows. His family knows. That we want him. If anyone else wants him they have to go to Txiki.”
