Manchester City were presented with an open door and instead of walking straight through it, conspired to trip over their own laces and face plant the floor.
The Club World Cup was in their hands. Certainly for the next couple of rounds anyway. Fluminense knocked out Inter earlier in the day and were waiting in the last eight. Potential semi-final opponents Chelsea don’t look particularly brilliant, either.
City looked and sounded like a group who fancied this. Said all the right things. Trained with smiles, discussed the improved camaraderie. But when things became tough, they buckled again.