By Manchester City’s wait to lift the Champions League goes on for at least another year, but Pep Guardiola must shoulder some of the responsibility for a tough night in Lisbon.
The ease with which a Lyon side who, bar winning the whole tournament, will not even be playing in Europe next season after finishing seventh in Ligue 1, cut them apart in their 3-1 quarter-final defeat on Saturday night was no fluke, and little to do with nerves. There was a tactical masterclass on display, not unusual for games with Guardiola in one of the dugouts. What was far from usual was that it came from his opposite number.
Guardiola is not a man averse to tactical surprises, and not just for one-off games. Few other managers would have turned Javier Mascherano from world-class midfielder to ball-playing centre-back, for instance. But Pep is not other managers.
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