Pep Guardiola had asked his players to at least give the Santiago Bernabéu a fright; instead, they were the ones exposed to a terrifying truth, wearing a haunted, hollow look.
It is not just a Champions League campaign that is over, a Kylian Mbappé hat-trick sending Real Madrid through here; on the evidence of another dark night in this strangest of seasons, it is Manchester City. The side that Guardiola said was a machine for eight years is no more, small wonder he admitted he was lying when he gave them a 1% chance of going through: it was not even that high.
