There was no fairy-tale return to England for Thomas Tuchel as he watched his Bayern Munich side fall to a comprehensive 3-0 defeat away to Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Tuesday evening saw the club with the biggest resources in the sport's history win comfortably at home against inferior opponents, as is expected, although aspects of their play were really quite mesmeric.
It had been dubbed as the 'final' fans wanted to see when the two giants were drawn together in the quarter-final, but in the end events on the pitch merely manifested the gap in resources between England's best team and Germany's best team.
There was no overthinking on this occasion from Guardiola, despite playing John Stones in midfield.
There was no Champions League shambles as has characterized much of Sheikh Mansour's time as the figurehead of Manchester City's 'unique' ownership structure.
No, on this night it was the best football team in the world playing at their very best.
Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland were all spectacular, and they were helped by horror performances from Yann Sommer and Dayot Upamecano.
Rodri scores the openerPETER POWELLEFE
The gulf between the teams was clear
Despite having a lot of possession in the early exchanges, Bayern Munich quickly realized they were not equipped to match a team that has been built with such meticulous planning and vast investment.
Haaland hit a powerful low strike after 25 minutes, but Sommer was able to keep it out.
It felt like the Blues were keeping the Bavarians at arms' length until they fully gauged just how much more talent they had at their disposal than the visitors.
In the 27th minute the opening goal came, albeit through an unlikely source.
Rodri, usually entrusted with tactical fouls and defensive discipline, produced a quite sensational individual strike.
The Spanish international got the ball out of his feet and curled a sumptuous shot into the top corner of the net.
Leroy Sane threatened his former team twice shortly after half-time, but they were half chances at best, both thwarted by Ederson.
Bayern Munich then collapsed defensively. Yann Sommer and Upamecano's attempts to play out from the back were reminiscent of a lower-league team.
Haaland scores the thirdPETER POWELLEFE
Manchester City didn't have to press them particularly hard and the second-goal came through a huge individual error from the Frenchman.
He was caught trying to run with the ball into midfield, was dispossessed and Erling Haaland produced a fine cross to Bernardo Silva at the back post.
His header was fumbled by the Swiss keeper as it flew into the net.
In the blink of an eye, it was 3-0 as the Norwegian forward added another goal to his endless copybook for 2022/23.
Stones' header looped over the Bayern Munich defense and found Haaland unmarked at the back-post.
In trademark fashion he slid and guided the ball into the net, essentially ending this quarter-final as a contest with over 90 minutes to go.
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