You have to give Pep Guardiola marks for consistency.
Here was the Manchester City manager, speaking after a 7-0 win at the Etihad had made for the second most dominant knockout tie in the history of the Champions League, once again talking down the chances of his side and talking up the teams they could yet face.
The trophy cabinets at Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern Munich were mentioned with reverence, and there was a special mention for Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus after their second-leg heroics: “Real Madrid is out but Juventus are still there with Cristiano Ronaldo, who has gone there to win the Champions League,” he said.
As if that is not enough of a handicap, Guardiola predicted that his team will not be as lucky again if they go a man down and a goal down. Perhaps invoking certain verdicts on his time at Bayern Munich, the coach with two Champions League titles used the exits of the Madrid teams and Paris Saint-Germain to say how unfair he thinks it is that losing “one game against an incredibly top side” can have your season branded as a disaster even if you stroll your domestic league.
Having also been critical of Leroy Sane’s opening 20 minutes (before he went on to get a goal and three assists) and talked about the important players they had missing in key positions, City’s manager was asked if it is reasonable to think therefore that they could improve for the later rounds.
Finally, there was a break from the usual strategy and a hint that his plucky upstarts could upset the established order of the competition.
“We try,” he said. “When I said we are a teenage team, I didn’t say we are not going to fight. Vincent Kompany is not a teenager anymore. As a club we are like a teenager because the best success in the history is one semi-final and the second best is two quarter-finals.
“Compared to Real Madrid with 13 [titles] or Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern Munich or Juventus – they have how many: six, seven, eight? – our best success is one semi-final. But the teenagers have patience, desire, they are not scared and they have good things.”
City may not have the history of other clubs in the Champions League, and the presence of Ronaldo’s Juventus makes for some experience left in the competition that they simply don’t have.
But they also do not have the mental baggage of previous failures, so it is right that they shouldn’t fear anybody when the draw through to the final is made on Friday. If they are not at all guaranteed to make it to Madrid for June 1, they have every chance.