With FC Coachbusters of Scouseland having negotiated their arbitrationally-assisted route past UCL giants PSG last night, it was the turn of Manchester City to get their noses ahead in the Champions League tonight.
But with Guardiola missing from the touchline, it seems he had the script with him in Box 53 and the team, almost to a man sang from separate hymn sheets as City crashed to a poor defeat against an average French outfit who ignored the bookies and pundits and set about writing an epitaph for City.
It is said that the reason the Abu Dhabi Group is in this for the long haul is to ensure City become European Champions.