It was last August when Pep Guardiola left his players alone inside the dressing room of the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon. He did not say a word. Yet among his squad the whispers were about to begin.
Here they were again. Another Champions League quarter-final. Another defeat. Another failed attempt by Guardiola to tweak when he should have trusted.
They were frustrated. They told family, friends and representatives they felt Guardiola had got it wrong — and kept getting it wrong — in the big games. Some even spoke of losing their own faith in him for those huge nights.