Guardiola lost plot... and then the match
FROM his position in the posh seats, Pep Guardiola stared into the distance, glassy-eyed.
His faint hopes of a perfect game had just been punctured by Mo Salah and, under the terms of his banishment, he could do little to reinflate them.
Behind the blankness, he might have been regretting the outburst that took him from the technical area, caused by a poor decision that denied Leroy Sane a second City goal.
Guardiola lost it, big time, in every sense. Lost it with the beleaguered and befuddled referee, lost the plot, lost the tie, even lost the game. Lost his control, like those with such evangelical commitment do.
To see those glassy eyes as City’s demonic first-half efforts were reduced to rubble by Salah – and then Roberto Firmino – was to understand why Guardiola is a man who needs a break now and again.
Despite this night of disappointment, despite what looks a crushing twolegged defeat, there will not be a single City supporter who hopes that moment happens any time soon.
Because in defeat, there was still an intensity that came from that one man.
There was still an adventure that came from that one man.
There was still a relentless attacking commitment that came from that one man.
Sure, he lost it, and not for the first time.
But if he had not already over the course of this season, he must have won respect, must have won the minds of many a neutral, even in a 5-1 aggregate hammering.
The Premier League should be won in relative style but that solitary trinket will still feel like scant return for a team that threatened some sort of domination.
Yet the first half still showed why Guardiola will be cherished here as long as he stays.
It showed why City supporters will want him to put pen to that contract extension that is waiting for him and that will take him beyond another year. Oddly, on occasion of emphatic loss, those fans seemed to appreciate what Guardiola has tried to do at the Etihad more than they have done for a while.
At least for a while, there was a feeling inside the stadium that matched the most vibrant in Europe.
There was little hint of ahead of the game.
Let’s face it, no one is intimidated by a few plastic flags left on the seats but what really plugs stadium atmospheres into the mains is performance, intensity of performance.
There should have been no doubting City’s commitment but it was still eye-popping. Throw in the early opener from Gabriel Jesus and you had a buzz that passes for febrile in these parts.
Guardiola certainly had his players at their most febrile and only a lack of composure kept another player off the scoresheet – a lack of composure and the inability of referee Lahoz to spot James Milner had set up Sane for a second, erroneously chalked off for offside.
Cue Guardiola’s rage, cue Lahoz’s glee in despatching him to the stand, cue City’s deflation, cue comfortable Liverpool progression.
Guardiola could be bitter about marginal decisions over the two legs.
But he knows that would be hiding from the truth.
They were not clinical enough and did not defend well enough.
Those are long-term issues for Guardiola to address.
No matter how painful this setback, every City fan will be praying he is around for the long term to address them.