Kevin De Bruyne had his sore legs on ice, Kyle Walker hobbled his way around the perimeter of the pitch towards the treatment room, Phil Foden sported a bandage absorbing blood from, a head wound.
Yet battered and bruised, they endured. Manchester City will return to Madrid to play the team a few stops along Metro line 7. Real Madrid take a toll of a different kind. It won’t necessarily be any easier containing the skills of Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior and the brilliant finishing of Karim Benzema – but it will probably hurt less.
This was an ordeal, as games against Atletico Madrid tend to be.