Systemic flaws of Guardiola’s City keep Champions League out of reach

Hello darkness my old friend. As Pep Guardiola walked on to the pitch at the final whistle in the Bernabéu, a familiarly skinny-legged figure, that gleaming bald pate looking terribly tender under the hard white lights, still dressed head to toe in tailored black like a celebrity magician, or a university lecturer on his way to a funeral, it was hard not to feel the pathos of the moment.

Guardiola shook hands, patted his players and said something to the referee. He lingered near the centre circle, facing down the waves of triumphalism from the seats, in an arena where this really is personal, where Guardiola stands as a gargoyle of deep tribal rivalries.

Related: Real Madrid’s latest miracle is a tale of 88 seconds and one Ancelotti video | Sid Lowe

Often managers use that post-match lull as a buffer before their media duties, a moment to compose their thoughts and prepare a face to meet the faces. This was a crushing night for Guardiola, one of those moments around which a career is defined, horizons reeled in. But City have another game on Sunday, with another prize on the line. Guardiola knew this was a moment to swallow it down.

A little later he would tell his press conference that he had at no point seen defeat coming, or had any idea Real Madrid were capable of turning a game like this. Really? Because it was out there in plain sight. In the press seats one Spanish football correspondent had flagged up that defeat was coming to Manchester City even as they dominated possession early on, growing ever more certain of Madrid’s eventual victory as Riyad Mahrez put City 1-0 up on the night.

And while this may be a familiar pattern for those who have studied this Madrid team at close range, the question remains: how