Phil Foden has got his smile back! Man City star admits to 'learning a lot' about himself during troubled 2024-25 season and has rediscovered his hunger

City's homegrown hero got them off to a strong start against Dortmund by curling into the bottom corner in the first half. After Erling Haaland had doubled Pep Guardiola's side's advantage, Foden grabbed his second goal of the night with another trademark finish after cutting inside on to his left foot. His double took him on to 20 goals in Europe's top competition, moving level with Gareth Bale and surpassing Barcelona great Ronaldinho.

Foden has four goals and three assists so far this season, the perfect riposte to his troubled last campaign in which he experienced mental struggles in addition to his frustration at City's disappointing results.

Foden told TNT Sports: "I'm loving it. I just need to play with a smile on my face, which I'm doing. Last year was tough, not just for myself but for everyone. There is a new togetherness this season and you can tell. Today Dortmund caused us some problems, they are a great team, but we stuck to the plan and broke them down with our talent up front.

"You learn a lot from it when you go through a tough patch. We have great captains in our team and we speak about how we can get back on track. And we've added great players to the squad as well and that's brought real hunger and togetherness. It was just about trying to be the team we used to be and this season we are seeing glimpses of that."

Guardiola was delighted with Foden's two goals and said he was already back to the best version of himself even before his stunning display against Dortmund. The coach said: "He does not need to get closer. He is already there. It is true we have missed goals and he got two incredible goals. How many times have we seen that from Phil right? How many times? The generosity with the effort but also with the quality in the final third. We missed it a lot. I'm happy three more players scored goals and not just Erling Haaland."

Foden will be hoping for an England recall on Friday, when Thomas Tuchel makes his final squad announcement of 2025 for the last two World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania. Foden has not played for England since asking to be excused from the June matches against Senegal and Andorra although he was injured for the September international window.

"Thomas [Tuchel] knows perfectly how good Phil is and I'm sure he will do the best for your country," said Guardiola.

City have three days' rest before Sunday's mouthwatering game against Premier League champions Liverpool. The Reds did the double over City last season and are on a mini-revival of their own, celebrating back-to-back wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid after losing six of their previous seven games.