Kevin De Bruyne felt Manchester City finally showed Barcelona their true colours after a stunning 3-1 Champions League victory.
Just two weeks after being thrashed 4-0 at the Nou Camp, City turned the tables on Barca by coming from behind to beat the Catalan giants 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
It was City's first victory over Barca in six Champions League attempts over the past two-and-a-half years.
De Bruyne, who scored with a sublime free-kick between two Ilkay Gundogan strikes, said: "I think we tried to play the same way we did in Nou Camp - but there we made some mistakes.
"Obviously if you make mistakes you lose 4-0.
"Here we made fewer mistakes and won 3-1. Barca are a very good team but I think we did really well and showed what we have got.
"The first half hour was a bit nervous but after that we found the key to put them under pressure.
"I think from the moment we scored [to make it] 1-1 we did really well. They didn't create a lot of chances any more.
"I don't think they knew how to break us in the second half and we could have scored more goals. Obviously it is a really well-deserved victory."
It was certainly one of City's greatest European nights but De Bruyne - who was involved in memorable victories over Sevilla, Borussia Monchengladbach and Paris Saint-Germain last season - was unwilling to compare performances.
He said: "It's difficult to tell. I have only played a couple in Europe with City - but obviously it was a good one."
For the Belgian the focus has already switched to the home match against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
He said: "Obviously everyone will talk about it because it was Barcelona but if you lose at the weekend it doesn't matter.
"We have to do the same as we did in these two games and try to win against Middlesbrough to go into the international break with a good series and try to maintain top spot in the league."