This could finish up being some season for Carlo Ancelotti – he has one hand on the Spanish title and is now in the Champions League semi-finals.
He could become the first coach to win Europe’s five major leagues and to win four European Cups, and in the same season.
It was not easy for him on Tuesday night, but then he knew he would not be. ‘We know we will have to suffer to get through, but we are ready to suffer,’ he said in the build-up.
The 62-year-old still bears the scars of Istanbul 2005 and it’s the memories of that night will always be too clear for him to take any lead for granted.