Man City pride could yet bring more pain with Pep Guardiola question looming

Manchester City put everything into attacking Real Madrid but unfortunately for them that included Bernardo Silva's elbow

Footage of Manchester City's past glories in the Champions League were played out around the Etihad as the club did everything they could to build up to an historic comeback. Then the game started and Pep Guardiola's side relived all of their previous heartbreaks in the competition in an exit that was as crushing as it was comprehensive.

Not finishing good chances. Heroics from the opposition goalkeeper. VAR having a major say in City's downfall. Players (and the manager) losing control in the big moments. If City were playing Champions League bingo, they'd have had a full house inside 30 minutes.

This was a very different team from the first leg picked by Guardiola, with wingers replaced by wing-backs and a narrow attacking line designed to crash the box behind Erling Haaland and cause chaos in the Real box. It worked almost instantly, with Rayan Cherki and Rodri drawing excellent saves from the outstanding Thibaut Courtois.

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The Etihad was alive, crackling every time Cherki got the ball and whistling ferociously whenever the visitors got a touch. All City were missing in the opening 20 minutes was a goal, but Real dug in well and then pounced to devastating effect.

A swift counter saw Vinicius free in the box and as he blasted his shot towards the near post Bernardo Silva used his elbow to make sure it didn't go in. Nobody thought much of it as the referee corroborated the linesman's call of offside, only for that to be overturned and City's gameplan go out the window.

When the Blues were looking for something unprecedented in this game, they definitely didn't mean the first red card of Silva's nine years at City to leave them without their captain for 70 minutes. Vinicius put the penalty away to pile on the pain that is all too familiar for City in European football when spring arrives.

Still they did not give up, and only another world-class save from Courtois stopped Haaland from an instant reply. Real went straight down the other end and should have scored another from Vinicius though, showing how open they were going to be if they tried to attack.

It was a gamble that had to be taken, and City kept on going. Jeremy Doku was a constant threat and he was finally rewarded on the stroke of half-time when his ball across the box was turned in by Haaland.

The waves kept coming, but whatever luck City had from Courtois having to go off in the second half, his replacement Andriy Lunin stopped superbly from Haaland four minutes after the break. City pushed on, and at the other end Abdukodir Khusanov was outstanding to mop up any counter that Vinicius or his Real teammates attempted.

Between minutes 45 and 60, Guardiola made four changes - including to take Haaland off for Omar Marmoush. Was that to rest him up for the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal in an admission this tie was over or the latest attempt to confuse Real?

Regardless of why, it didn't matter who City played because it wasn't going to be their night. Doku had the ball in the net just after the hour mark but was a fraction offside and then Ait-Nouri suffered the same fate after heading home, and that summed City up: nearly but not quite, again.

And for all the talk of a young team, it was City's more experienced players in this tie that got it wrong in the moments. Donnarumma hesitated for that first goal at the Bernabeu for fear of giving a penalty and red card away, then Silva did the opposite in the second leg.

The positive for City is that they are much improved and nearly there, having gone toe-to-toe with Real in a way they simply did not last year. They could still win trophies this season and showed enough encouragement that this team can rise to make the club a force to be feared in the Champions League again.

But that promise is not guaranteed as they spend another year watching the quarter-finals from their sofas. Whether they can lift themselves next year to restore their status as a European elite, and whether Guardiola will still be here to lead them, are big questions that remain unanswered.

And in the short term City have to beat Arsenal in Sunday's Carabao Cup final to avoid heading into the March internationals on the back of four winless games where they have effectively lost three competitions.

The good news is it hurts again. The bad news is there may be more pain to come.