For only the eighth time in the past quarter of a century, England finds itself without a single representative in the last four of the Champions League. That feels, in the immediate aftermath of this soul-sapping defeat for Manchester City, like an unvarnished travesty.
There are ways of losing, and Pep Guardiola made clear that this one, in a game his team dominated, in a shootout they threw away, was acceptable and that he had made his peace with it.
Pep Guardiola’s side could still win the double, but they are not the all-conquering force they were 12 months ago after being knocked out of the Champions League on penalties
‘Something must be done about the Premier League’ is a common refrain in European club boardrooms - so Real Madrid and Bayern Munich duly obliged, knocking out Manchester City and Arsenal to leave no English clubs at the semi-final stage for only the second time since 2017