The mandatory hug. A few words of compassion. Then Pep Guardiola went back to Morgan Gibbs-Blank for something else. Another hug, a whisper in the ear.
Guardiola appreciates quality and knew that the revival of Nottingham Forest in this semi -final comes from a Midfielder Manchester City who signed this summer.
The woodwork of Stefan Ortega was hit three times after the break, twice by Gibbs-White, who drove forest and left the Wembley-tone height over a missed opportunity.
Sometimes the roof of the city fell this season, but they have saved their advantage here, with some luck, and rightly for the way they checked forest in the early exchanges.
She checked with a box of midfield that Guardiola says it is not to stay – probably because the attributes of Erling Haaland were more suitable for other formations – but Rico Lewis allowed to flourish.
Lewis unveiled last summer on the tour of City by America that he wanted to play as a no. 8 and Guardiola decided on Saturday afternoon that this semi -final against Forest was the perfect time to try it.
Lewis thrives in large environments and was an ear to the crowd within two minutes after firing the city. He, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic were Hyenas out of possession.
“There are some players who believe that I do not appreciate them and with Rico I give him the hand to show his quality and he proved it,” Guardiola said. “He can play different positions. He has the quality, he moves very well in small spaces. His perfect position is in the bag. Rico is one of the best I've ever seen there. '
Guardiola congratulated Arne Slot on winning the league title in Liverpool, but warned that City would be back. Attaching a Champions League room is now of the utmost importance, with in-shape wolves that come to Etihad on Friday.
“We must be calm and recover because with the condition of the (Wembley) grass, the tiredness is always there,” Guardiola added before he was asked if winning this competition and ending in the top five would form a good season. “No,” he replied with emphasis.
'This season has not been good. We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool. We were always a machine and we have not been good. We have to make the right decisions, so next season will be better. '
Signing Gibbs-White would be a good place to start.