Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain were in the Manchester City dressing room afterwards in what should have been a considerably lighter affair than Todd Boehly’s recent trip into Chelsea’s.

Al Mubarak wandered out of the Allianz Arena while deep in conversation with Pep Guardiola – whose brother, Pere, was part of City’s executive entourage – and is now the time for them to be mentioning the T word?

With places booked in two semi-finals – the FA Cup and Champions League – while the Premier League is in their own hands, City will surely never have a more presentable chance of creating history for themselves than over the next few weeks.

Guardiola’s mantra is to only look to the next game, which is Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday, but that shouldn’t stop people around the club from dreaming of what they could go on to achieve.

Beating Bayern Munich by three goals over two legs, and in doing so withstanding some very heavy pressure on Wednesday evening, is a statement victory. It’s hard to imagine that the suits in attendance aren’t privately wondering if Manchester United’s 1999 season can be repeated.

Feisty night in Munich

There was something which felt striking during the second leg, and that is City appeared to be enjoying the aggressiveness of the tie. They relished playing the role of villains.

This has happened before, with the goalless draw secured at Atletico Madrid in last year’s quarter-final, but not something that is necessarily associated with a team who play such glorious football.

When Erling Haaland scored the opener – his 48th of the campaign – the Norwegian happily goaded the home fans as beer rained down on him from the stands. While that was going on, Kyle Walker was becoming embroiled in a heated row with a few home fans as he went up and down the touchline.

Haaland was not finished. He also screamed in Leon Goretzka’s face when City won a corner shortly after (Goretzka had been playing mind games shortly before the missed penalty).

There was that bite but also a greater sense of game management. The substitutes played their part, wasting a few precious seconds when City won a corner, as Phil Foden diverted the ball away from Kevin De Bruyne as he trotted over to take the set piece. Kalvin Phillips was giggling at his team-mate. That was all after Ederson picked up his second booking of the season for time wasting.

Ake injury blow

Nathan Ake is going for an ultrasound on his hamstring after pulling up in the second half. Ake, who had spent much of the night chasing Kingsley Coman, felt a tightness and was immediately replaced.

‘I hope it’s not too bad,’ Ake said. ‘I’ve had it before and it feels a little bit less to be honest, but you never know with these things.’

An absence for any length of time would be a significant blow for City, who have become hugely reliant on Ake’s consistency throughout this season.

It would also give Guardiola a real selection headache. Aymeric Laporte replaced Ake against Bayern ahead of Sergio Gomez but has fallen out of favour, while it is unlikely that they would ask Kyle Walker to operate on the wrong side.

Rico Lewis has occasionally filled in on the left-hand side but is still young and inexperienced, which may be considered something of a risk at such a crucial time.