The questions flew around the WhatsApp groups of Manchester City supporters on Wednesday morning focused on the importance of this, Club Bruges at home at the end of a group of eight very friendly games.
Slovan Bratislava, Inter, Esparta Praga, Sporting Lisboa, Feyenoord, an undenchanted Juventus, a Saint-Germain transition Paris. It was not exactly a list of nightmare accessories for City to navigate to the 11 points required for qualification in the playoffs.
And yet, the question was: apart from the finals, when was the last game as big as this? Forget about the answers, that any city fan even contemplated that they talked a lot for their season and tension, a paralyzing fear of shame, which swept the Etihad stadium, said more than enough too.
Pep Guardiola regularly stirred his arms, hugged the edge of his technical area as an end.
He ran to recover a launch, crawls accidentally at the back of the head of Bruges Nicky Hayen in his hurry.
Go on your hands while John Stones headed for par, stirring when Matheus Nunes sold short to allow visitors to manufacture the starter. His anguish lived every moment.
The frustrations of the Pep Guardiola touch line summed up the type of frustrated club Man City now are
Guardiola was animated in his technical area on one night with great bets of the Champions League
A nervous energy seized the manager, grabbed his players, grabbed the crowd on a night that had begun with a merchandise stand in the esplanade burning fire, smoke in the air of Manchester, two units of fire brigade called the Scene and for a minute, a potentially delayed beginning.
The usual welcome bus for the city players, where they lead to Colin Bell's post and greet the waiting fans, were filed due to the proximity of the fire.
The official presentation of three signings of January, including electric Omar Marmous, had to cancel for security reasons.
Even the man of the kit he left discarded the covers on the floor for the official photograph of the team, just for Bernardo Silva to realize just before the camera blinked.
Perhaps when the whistle finally exploded to start the night, things would begin to go without problems. Mistaken.
Guardiola admitted diplomatically in advance that his team had the responsibility of giving the crowd an action to throw his voice.
If he believed that the feeling or is not another matter, but it is true that he became more vocal, more encouraging, once Mateo Kovacic had matched.
The problem that the city has here in European Games is the fall in its usual crowd of the Premier League, thousands choose not to pay the price increase and give way to those who wish to take a look at the best club in this country in the Last decade, maybe once. or twice per season. It is not conducive to creating a hostile environment and needs to correct in some way.
Mateo Kovacic (right) scored the tie and two more goals for City to win it 3-1
There was a smile at the end of the night for Guardiola, but there was a lot of previous anxiety
That is for another day, but for now, when the city goes to the Friday play-off raffle that seems tense of danger, Guardiola were all who are connected to the club that heads.
He warned that he complained about the referee, the reaction of Catalan to the second of the city night, the decisive factor, was starting the Gatorade water cooler in his bank not once but twice. The act of a frustrated man at the top of a frustrated club.