IAN LADYMAN: Quicksilver Kyle Walker makes Vinicius Jnr look like he is running through mud.

Buried beneath the grandeur of Manchester City’s night of European perfection lay the struggle that never was. Kyle Walker vs. Vinicius Junior Mk II. It’s hard to judge a match when only one of the combatants is playing.

If City have had a better, more complete night than this one under Pep Guardiola, it’s hard to remember. If Vinicius Junior, a talent so rich that some have tried to position him as the best player in the world, had a more anonymous 90 minutes, he will now also have tried to bury the memory.

Last week at the Bernabeu, Walker revealed that Vinicius had tried to embarrass him by performing a “rainbow move” up and over the defender’s head.

It’s the kind of thing football players usually reserve for the training ground. Here at the Etihad, there was no rainbow for the Brazilian. For much of this game he looked like he was plodding through the mud of Manchester.

By the 20th minute, Vinicius had already reached a level of simmering frustration. And that indirectly played a role in City’s scoring.

In the first half it looked like Vinicius would beat Walker and go on goal

But the Man City full-back showed his recovery pace as he overtook Vinicius and made the tackle

Walker saw off Vinicius’ danger on a rough night for the Brazilian star

City’s performance over the course of the first half was anything but flawless. Real, after somehow surviving two semi-finals last season dominating the England squad, found on this occasion that Guardiola’s squad has improved to such an extent that it wasn’t so much the half of home superiority as of extraordinary dominance.

Among those players in black, none seemed to take this as personally as the young Brazilian. Teammates like Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema have been there for years. They’ve been here before, if not often.

However, Vinicius was palpably upset by the flow and direction of the game at first. As City controlled possession and territory, the 22-year-old cut an isolated figure through the touchline in front of the dugouts.

After Erling Haaland was denied by the second of two great Thibaut Courtois saves in the 21st minute, Vinicius waved frantically to the Madrid back four, urging them to try to squeeze their opponents further up the pitch.

Sure, Real desperately needed territory. But territory is hard to find when you don’t have the ball.

Moments later, Vinicius tried to control a throw-in just in his own half, but, perhaps unsettled by his own sense of irritation, made such a heavy first touch that the ball was only handed back to City.

Within a minute, Real found themselves behind as City pushed the ball down the field and back for Walker and Kevin De Bruyne to open up the spaces needed for Bernardo Silva to sneak in and score the opener.

It felt like the crucial moment in the game. City had been so dominant up to that point that failing to score would have inevitably fueled this feeling in these parts that City and this great league are destined to never get along.

As it was, City pushed through an advantage that had appeared theirs from the opening whistle with a second goal. Afterwards, Walker chose not to take part in the celebration at the corner flag and cheered to the supporters in the stands on his side of the pitch.

The Man City defender won comfortably against the Brazilian in City’s 4-0 victory

The battle between Walker and Vinicius was over after last week’s first leg in Spain

After all the talk after the first leg and indeed in the immediate preamble to this leg about Walker’s duel with his opponent and indeed his own enduring speed over the ground, Walker only needed to light the fire once in the first half. Just after half an hour a ball was played into the left inner channel of the Real half and for a moment Vinicius had half a meter on the City right back.

In short, Walker was in that terrible territory that all defenders fear against fast opponents. If you get too close to Vinicius, the South American will inevitably cut right across him to try and make an offense. Don’t get too close and Vinicius might score. However, Walker is lightning fast, and here was the proof. Within five strides he had passed Vinicius, the ball was his and the danger had passed.

Walker’s role in this Guardiola line-up is interesting to observe. The 32-year-old made a name for himself, building his reputation seven or eight years ago as a more than capable attacking full-back in Mauricio Pochettino’s forward-thinking Tottenham side.

City blew Real away with a 4-0 win in the second leg to sweep into the Champions League final

Here, as centre-back John Stones continued to add extra body to City’s midfield when they had the ball, Walker rarely ventured far enough forward to get involved. . There’s no point in giving someone like Vinicius an edge in a running race.

There was also a bigger challenge in the second half. That was probably inevitable. The psychology of football is such that a team that leads by two goals will often go deeper, whether intentionally or not.

So there was tension here. Real opportunities were not lacking for Real either. Ederson’s goal in the City continued to carry an air of underemployment, while a sprint from Vinicius followed by a deliberate fall into the penalty area was met with disinterest from the referee and scorn from the home support.

This was a night for City to enjoy, one that should eventually take them where they haven’t been yet. It was a night that started with a shot for Walker in minute three and a desperate tackle from Vinicius in his own half in minute five. That was pretty much the tone.