Pep Guardiola acted different on the touchline vs Real Madrid and it shows his plan for Man City run-in

There was a period of stunned silence when Antonio Rudiger converted to knock Manchester City out of the Champions League. A slow realisation, after two hours of nerves and noise, that the double treble was over. Then, applause broke out all around the Etihad.

Barring the corner of jubilant Real Madrid fans in the corner, the mood at full time at the Etihad on Wednesday night was one of shock. City are used to European heartbreak - that's what made last year's triumph in Istanbul all the more special - but this wasn't like Monaco or Lyon, or Tottenham or Chelsea, or Real Madrid in 2022.

This was different. City had played well, they had dominated the most successful team in Europe and forced them to play within themselves. They did everything but somehow had lost again. As the players picked themselves up off the floor to applaud the fans, Pep Guardiola slowly walked off down the tunnel.

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In the past, Guardiola has been full of nerves and tension on the touchline in these big European games. When they have lost, his enigmatic reactions - dropping to his knees - have been the lasting image of City's failure (see Spurs in 2019 or the Bernabeu in 2022).

But on Wednesday Guardiola was at times the only calm head in East Manchester. The atmosphere pre-match was a little subdued with nerves taking over in the terraces, not helped by Rodrygo's early goal. The fans did everything to rally their side, especially when Real dropped deeper and deeper.

In the technical area there were no theatrics from Guardiola.