There are ways of losing, and Pep Guardiola made clear that this one, in a game his team dominated, in a shootout they threw away, was acceptable and that he had made his peace with it.
‘Something must be done about the Premier League’ is a common refrain in European club boardrooms - so Real Madrid and Bayern Munich duly obliged, knocking out Manchester City and Arsenal to leave no English clubs at the semi-final stage for only the second time since 2017
The Premier League is almost certain to miss out on an extra Champions League place after Manchester City and Arsenal lost their quarter-finals on Wednesday night.