O’Reilly scored City’s first equaliser in the 39th minute of our 2-2 draw against Hansi Flick’s side with the game later decided by a penalty shoot-out which the La Liga side won 4-1.
The 19-year-old made a clever run which split Barcelona’s defence and, after being found by Josko Gvardiol, he found the far corner in style.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CITY’S USA TOUR
But it was also his stamina, drive, technical ability and composure throughout the game against one of the biggest teams in Europe that impressed Wright-Phillips, who was speaking on the first-ever live episode of the official Man City Podcast.
“One of the other standout players for me was Nico [O’Reilly],” began Wright-Phillips after also singing the praises of Jack Grealish in City’s third pre-season game.
“I’ve been watching him, Joleon [Lescott] told me about him to start with, and I’ve been keeping an eye on him.
“But this third game, he kind of just became a man very quickly. And Barcelona is probably the toughest challenge we’ve had in terms of football, the chances the create and the way they play.
“And if you look at the first 15 minutes, there was a passage of play they did in the first four minutes and me and Joelon looked at each other and were like ‘wow’.
“But then our boys just took care of it. After that happened it was all Man City. And we could have been at some point 4-1 up in the first half but the chances weren’t going in for us.
“But to see the way we played it looked like we are halfway ready and we only got like what 45% of the first-team there.”
O’Reilly has often played in an attacking midfield role or across the front three when representing City at Under-18 and EDS level.
But, Guardiola entrusted the youngster to play a more defensive role in Orlando.
He’s not the only young talent at City’s disposal that has looked comfortable when playing alongside Guardiola’s senior players.
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Joel Ndala, Jaden Heskey, Jacob Wright, Mahamadou Susoho and Micah Hamilton all spent last season with City’s EDS squad and all have tallied minutes while on tour.
And Wright-Phillips added that, for him, it’s been a pleasure to see all the developing City stars get their chance on a big stage.
“It’s been awesome more to the point for to see so many young players having the chance to have a future at this club,” said Wright-Phillips.
“So to see them grow and play the way they have been playing has been really cool.”
The new edition of the Official Man City Podcast will be released today at 10:00 (UK).
USA TOUR 2024
Our final pre-season clash against Chelsea is available to watch on CITY+ in the following regions:
Our final pre-season clash against Chelsea is available to watch on CITY+ in the following regions:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam
And if purchasing CITY+ via the Man City App on iOS: Albania, Armenia, Cambodia, Georgia, Iceland, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
For fans outside of the countries named, we will have a full explainer article on how to watch each match coming in due course.
To access these matches from one of the locations listed above, you will need an active CITY+ subscription.
CITY+ is available via an annual subscription of £34.99 a year, saving you £24 on our monthly offering.
Choose monthly and pay £4.99 a month with the option to cancel anytime.
Official Cityzens and Season Ticket Members can subscribe annually for £30 a year, a saving of £29.
*Tour matches will not be available to watch on our TV app.
