Watching Manchester City’s humbling of Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final two it was easy to assume changing of the guard at the summit of European football had finally arrived.
Pep Guardiola’s side thrashed the holders 4-0 in the second leg in Manchester — one of the key results on the way to their historic treble — to suggest the combined might of the Premier League and City’s Abu Dhabi ownership was ushering in a new era.