Manchester City stars arrive back in England looking glum after humiliating Barcelona Champions League defeat

Following their 4-0 battering against the team their well-moneyed owners most want to emulate Manchester City’s stars arrived back in England looking understandably glum.

The result might look bad for Pep Guardiola, his joint-heaviest ever in management, but his side’s performance was actually impressive. Sadly for City the scoreline does not include an asterisk denoting what happened between both boxes, just what happened in it – or in Claudio Bravo’s case just outside it.

The goalkeeper will no doubt be made a scapegoat for the Barcelona mauling and he was quickly escorted through the arrivals lounge at Manchester airport and, no doubt much to the delight of social media comedians everywhere, into a waiting taxi.

John Stones, another who was less than impressive at the Nou Camp, was also quickly whisked through the airport.  Although to his credit he did stop to pose for selfies with waiting fans.

Boss Guardiola also showed himself to be a good sport as he signed shirts and posed for pictures despite having bigger priorities on his mind. He can forgiven if his smile was not quite as convincing as usual.

Other star names Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling did less of a good job in hiding their disappointment as the made their way through arrivals.

Guardiola made the big call to drop long-serving goalkeeper Joe Hart and sign Bravo from former club Barcelona. For now he is standing by his man and the risky style that backfired so spectacularly at the Nou Camp.

‘There will be no change. It stays the same,’ Guardiola said after the Barcelona match.

‘I’m sorry, until the last day of my career as a coach, I will try to play from our goalkeeper.’

Guardiola knows it is a strategy with the potential to result with egg on his face – he says so openly and regularly – but he believes the value of retaining possession outweighs the chances of making a mistake.

‘Most of the time, when we play good, it starts from there,’ he said.