Just as a tearful Cristiano Ronaldo was returning to the Portugal dressing room, his former Manchester United teammates were striding out onto the Benito Villamarín Stadium pitch in Seville.
'Viva Ronaldo' has been permanently rewritten as 'Viva Garnacho' and an Argentina flag was unfurled by United supporters at the expansive Benito Villamarín Stadium. On a night England were preparing for a World Cup quarter-final, old habits die hard for United supporters who have seldom lacked antipathy for the national side.
The eyes of the world are on the World Cup and United's games in Spain have felt a world away from Qatar. The timing of their second friendly in Andalucia, sandwiched between two quarter-finals, was especially dubious as Spain were expected to be Portugal's opponents for the early kick-off, not the magnificent Moroccans.
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In a sterile atmosphere that at times could have been mistaken for a testimonial match, the game was largely devoid of intensity and as tedious as the Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini can be to listen to. It is unlikely any of the United fans present were aware of the City connection in the home dugout. Claudio Bravo was also on the bench.
As thorough as Erik ten Hag is in his analysis, he might want to skip rewatching a tepid match. His comments about United "sleeping" for Cadiz's first goal from a free-kick fell on deaf ears as United were undone by classily choreographed set-piece that Nabil Fekir elegantly finished. Alejandro Garnacho was guilty of napping.
Ten Hag resisted wholesale changes at the interval, settling for four prior to more substitutions throughout the second-half. Anthony Elanga spent his hour-long shift solely on the right wing and he is another right-footed United winger who appears to be allergic to playing on the right. Ten Hag insisted on an impromptu debrief in the technical area.
The wisdom of these friendlies for United has been questionable, albeit not entirely without positives. Martial, back in Seville after his unsuccessful loan with the city's more storied side, has scored as many goals back in Spain this week as he did in La Liga, a solitary Panenka penalty against Cadiz. More vital than Martial's football is his fitness and he was taken off at the interval.
Betis, sixth in La Liga, started five players who lined up in their last fixture at Valencia and Fekir, once on the cusp of joining Liverpool before the move collapsed, clutched the World Cup with France in 2018. Newbies Sam Murray and Kobbie Mainoo earned two halves in Spain and acquitted themselves well.
Unlike some of his peers and the odd senior starter, Murray mastered the balance of aggression and composure and Mainoo can expect more training time with the first-team beyond this week. Their FA Youth Cup-winning teammate Garnacho has maintained a satisfactory performance level.
Tom Heaton's agility belies his 36 years. He was the busiest of United's goalies and kept the scoreline down, additional proof loaning in Martin Dubravka from Newcastle was misguided. Heaton is the better goalkeeper deserving of number two status behind David de Gea.
Ten Hag favoured continuity with his selections in pre-season and that has been the case with the Spain friendlies. The only change to the outfield starters from Cadiz was enforced by Donny van de Beek's withdrawal at the 11th hour. Isak Hansen-Aaroen replaced him.
United finalised a deal for the 18-year-old Norwegian in 2019 and he officially moved to Manchester a year later. The No.10 in last season's Youth Cup side, he cameoed in Ten Hag's first match as manager at Old Trafford in the friendly with Rayo Vallecano in July.
The United fitness coach Charlie Owen oversaw a rigorous individual warm-up with Hansen-Aaroen as technical director Darren Fletcher observed before offering pointers. Still only 18, he seemed overawed in his half of exposure.
There was an in-game casualty in Teden Mengi, carried off on a stretcher in the 20th minute after appearing to sustain a hamstring injury. Guttingly, Mengi only returned from a six-month injury lay-off in October and United had intended to loan him to a Championship club in January. Mengi looked distraught.
De Gea received little sympathy from compatriots subjected to the unconvincing Unai Simon in goal for the national team. De Gea was whistled on the handful of occasions he had the ball at his feet.
Brandon Williams, replaced at half-time, would not have seen out the half if the referee was Antonio Mateu Lahoz of Argentina-Netherlands infamy for two crude tackles that each warranted a yellow card. Inexplicably, Williams was not booked.
United's first halves in Spain have been blemished by unnecessary truculence from some of their players, hardly conducive to preparing for the resumption of the domestic season. Typically, Zidane Iqbal produced the most aesthetically pleasing sequence from anyone in red.
The Betis supporters occupied a sparse first tier, the couple of hundred United away-dayers housed in a corner of the third tier where they still made themselves heard singing 'Five Cantonas' and serenading a potential future number seven.
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