IAN LADYMAN: Quicksilver Walker makes Vinicius Jr run through mud

Buried beneath the majesty of Manchester City's night of European perfection was the battle that never was. Kyle Walker versus Vinicius Junior Mk II. It's hard to judge a contest when only one of the combatants is playing.

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

Last week in the Bernabeu, Walker revealed that Vinicius had tried to embarrass him by executing a 'rainbow flick' up and over the defender's head.

It's the kind of thing footballers usually reserve for the training ground. Here at the Etihad, there was no rainbow for the Brazilian. For much of this game he looked as if he was slogging through Manchester mud.

By the 20th minute, Vinicius had already reached a level of simmering frustration. And that, in turn, indirectly played a part in City scoring their first goal.

City's performance over the course of the first half was all but flawless. Real, after somehow surviving two semi-final games last season that the English side dominated, found on this occasion that Guardiola's team have improved to such an extent that this was not so much a half of home superiority but extraordinary dominance.

Among those players in black, none seemed to take this as personally as the young Brazilian. Team-mates such as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema have been around for years. They have been here before, if not often.

Vinicius, however, was tangibly unsettled by the flow and direction of the game early on. As City controlled possession and territory, the 22-year-old cut an isolated figure by the touchline in front of the dugouts.

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

Certainly, Real did desperately need territory. But territory is hard to come by when you don't have the ball.

Moments later, Vinicius sought to control a throw-in just inside his own half but, perhaps unsettled by his own sense of irritation, applied a first touch so heavy that it merely presented the ball back to City.

Within a minute, Real were behind as City moved the ball across the field and back for Walker and Kevin De Bruyne to open up the spaces needed for Bernardo Silva to steal in and score the opener.

It felt like the pivotal moment in the game. City had been so dominant up until that point that to not score would have inevitably fed into that sense around these parts that City and this great competition are just destined never to get along.

As it was, City pressed home an advantage that had appeared theirs from the opening whistle with a second goal. After that one, Walker chose not to join the celebrations away at the corner flag and stood exultant facing the supporters in the stand on his side of the field.

After all the talk following the first leg and indeed in the immediate preamble to this one about Walker's duel with his opponent and indeed his own enduring speed across the ground, Walker was only required to turn on the burners once in the opening half. Just after the half-hour, a ball was played into the inside left channel from the Real half and for a moment, Vinicius had half a yard on the City right back.

Briefly, Walker was in that dreadful territory that all defenders fear against quick opponents. Get too close to Vinicius and the South American would inevitably cut across him to try and draw a foul. Don't get too close and Vinicius possibly scores. Walker is just lightning quick, though, and here was the evidence. Within the space of five strides, he was past Vinicius, the ball was his and the danger was gone.

Walker's role in this Guardiola set-up is interesting to observe. The 32-year-old made his name and built his reputation as a more than capable attacking full back in Mauricio Pochettino's progressive Tottenham team seven or eight years ago.

Here, while central defender John Stones continued to add an extra body to the City midfield when they had the ball, Walker rarely ventured far enough forward to join in. That in itself may have been in deference to the latent threat presented by his immediate opponent. There is no point handing someone like Vinicius a head start in a foot race.

There was a greater challenge presented in the second half, too. That was probably inevitable. The psychology of football is such that a team leading by two goals will often find itself sitting deeper, intentionally or otherwise.

So there was tension here. Equally, there was absence of genuine chances for Real. Ederson in the City goal continued to carry an air of under-employment while a dash from Vinicius followed by a deliberate tumble in the penalty area was met with disinterest from the referee and derision from the home support.

This was a night for City to savour, a night that should, ultimately, take them to where they have not yet been. It was a night that started with a shot for Walker in minute three and a desperate tackle by Vinicius in his own half in minute five. That was pretty much the tone of it.