After the frenzy of round one, round two would provide moments of beauty amid the bluster.
These Manchester City vs Liverpool clashes are going to define just who gets to win the prizes in this specific, and remarkable, era of football, with a third in Paris also on the horizon should the largely expected occur across the next couple of weeks.
And as we saw at the Etihad last Sunday, it is the high octane action and the errors that can produce which makes this rivalry so compelling.
Liverpool were all at sea at times last week, with their high line representing something that a trapeze artist wouldn't fancy, but that's just what they do. It is what has brought them to the dance, and so they're not going to leave it in the corner and go off with anyone else.
And, as discussed, errors are expected in these games anyway, although not perhaps to the extent of the one made by Zack Steffen which gifted Liverpool their second goal and Sadio Mane his first.
The beautiful moments are never too far away either though, and soon enough there was Thiago Alcantara lofting a delightful pass into the direction of Mane, who speared his spinning volley into the bottom corner.
Mane is probably made for games like this, providing as they do the opportunity to run through your opponents and win by sheer force of will.
But it was Thiago's moments on the ball which caught the eye and added the sense of style to Liverpool's steel, something that he also possesses of course.
The Spaniard was excellent at Wembley, taking advantage of the fact that his Spain teammate Rodri wasn't playing and dominating in a midfield where Fernandinho looked every inch a man who will soon be 37.
At 31 Thiago is no spring chicken himself, but the decision to abandon their transfer policy to bring him in from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2020 is continuing to look an inspired one from Liverpool.
Sure he has had fitness and form worries at times, but his place in the Reds' best XI can't be questioned, and he's added a real sense of experience and knowhow to a side that were already amassing plenty of that themselves, and so the extra injection could well be the ingredient which sees this side make football history.
If the quadruple is to be achieved then Thiago will be needed in the big games, and Jurgen Klopp might have to judge just what constitutes a 'big game' for his side in the next six weeks. Manchester United and Everton at home may not fit the category now, incredibly.
Other players may come to the fore there, but here it was Thiago who shone as Liverpool moved the ball so impressively in the first half and shocked a static City.
Beauty is still possible in these epic games of blood and thunder, and the Spaniard provided it for his side in spades.
