As is his want and occasional tendency, Pep Guardiola opened a can of worms in the hours before Manchester City made their way down here to the growing beat of jungle drums.
Much of the discourse since Sunday, the fifth coronation in six years for a super team – one of the greatest we have ever seen - has centred on those Premier League charges for alleged financial breaches rather than the stuff on the grass and that understandably irks Guardiola.
So that is why City’s manager chose to unload on the time this is all taking.