Stepping out at the Etihad Stadium to play the reigning European champions Manchester City must be a daunting experience for most players - but spare a thought for full-backs!

Whether they line up against Jérémy Doku, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden or the up-and-coming Oscar Bobb, a stiff test always lies in store; and Brentford right-back Mads Roerslev rose to the occasion in the Bees' narrow 1-0 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night.

The 24-year-old Dane was an integral part of the Brentford side that inflicted the treble winners' only home defeat of last season, and he again started as Thomas Frank's side gave Pep Guardiola's side a run for their money at the Etihad.

Frank, afterwards, heralded "a top performance" by the Bees, who remained on level terms until the 71st minute of an absorbing contest, before Erling Haaland took advantage of an unfortunate slip from Kristoffer Ajer to score City's winner.

The visitors defended admirably throughout: keeper Mark Flekken turned in another superb display between the sticks, and the central defensive trio of Zanka, Ajer and Ben Mee gave very little away, with the latter producing an outstanding goal-line clearance from youngster Bobb in the first half.

Aside from that opportunity and a wayward header from Silva, Brentford were rock solid at the back, until Haaland ended his Bees hoodoo by scoring the goal that means he has now notched against all 21 teams he has faced in the Premier League since joining City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

Roerslev and Sergio Reguilón were tireless in patrolling their respective flanks on Tuesday, and the calibre of their performances makes it easy to forget that the pair are playing without the support of long-term casualties Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry.

Solid and dependable on the right, no player on the pitch won more tackles (2) or played more accurate long balls (3) than Roerslev, and the former Copenhagen academy product completed one successful dribble and posted an impressive pass completion percentage of 82.

Playing right-back away to this City side must rank as one of the hardest tasks in world football, but Roerslev held his own, seeing off the challenge of Bobb, only for Belgian speedster Doku to take his place on the left wing for the final half-hour. Even then, the Brentford man defended well against the fresh legs.

In the age where modern full-backs are expected also to be experts in the final third, Roerslev has done one simple thing in particular well all season: stop crosses getting into the box.

Roerslev has blocked seven crosses in total this season, only 11 players in the entire division have managed to get in the way of more. That's also more than any of his team-mates, with the exception of Vitaly Janelt.

And, despite falling behind to Haaland's clinical strike last night, Brentford reacted well and created several promising situations in the latter stages of the contest, and several lung-bursting runs from the dauntless Roerslev were in evidence.

On another day, Brentford could have got a better result with that level of performance. While this one may have ended in defeat, there were plenty of positives on display once again ahead of a trio of important Premier League clashes in the capital.