The obligatory hug. A few words of commiseration. Then Pep Guardiola went back towards Morgan Gibbs-White for something else. Another embrace, a whisper in the ear.
Guardiola appreciates quality and knew Nottingham Forest’s resurgence in this semi-final emanated from a midfielder Manchester City fancy signing this summer.
Stefan Ortega’s woodwork was struck three times after the break, twice by Gibbs-White, who drove Forest on and left the Wembley pitch chuntering about a missed opportunity.
At times this season City’s roof has fallen in but they preserved their advantage here, with some luck, and deservedly so for the way in which they controlled Forest in the early exchanges.