It was an embrace born of mutual respect. When the final whistle blew on an engrossing, remarkable game of football, Pep Guardiola and Brendan Rodgers came together like a pair of sweating, heavyweight sluggers.
For 90 minutes, Celtic and Manchester City exchanged haymakers with brutal intent. They gave their all. When it was over, Scotland’s champions pulled themselves off the ropes, bruised, bloodied and standing tall.
The financial chasm between these clubs is unbridgeable. Yet this was a night when Rodgers and his team asked more questions of Pep’s City in the first 25 minutes than the English Premier League have managed in six games.