Three minutes into the second half of a game that very rarely threatened to break down, Kyle Walker looked up and slid a simple 10-yard pass to Kevin De Bruyne. There was space to the right and this was the most routine opportunity to get something going. No one would think twice about a combination almost halfway between teammates who could complete this exercise blindfolded in tens of thousands of rehearsals.

The pass may have been intended for De Bruyne, but it never reached him. It came from the game, no opponent offered an excuse through the slightest pressure, and anyone could have been forgiven for a moment of stopping and wondering how it had come to this. How could two brilliant, supremely reliable elder statesmen from Manchester City’s victorious era become so hamstrung that they thwarted a move that had both been derailed for seven years?

What an evening it was for Juventus, whose rougher edges always seemed more suited to warming the senses. City, whose game seemed to be quickly forgotten, looked stale and monotonous compared to the hosts, who understood the benefits of deviating from the script. It was perhaps the least glamorous player of all, Federico Gatti, who embodied this and found the element of spontaneity that pushed the game beyond the ordinary.

This is no longer the Juventus of old, but their home and its surroundings still have a weight, a seriousness, an almost serious meaning. A clear, freezing December night in the Alps could, if one tried hard enough, recall some of the more momentous events when Europe’s best were routinely crushed here. There is no Del Piero, no Zidane, no Chiellini, no Platini, no Buffon and not even a Conte anymore. But perhaps there is the knowledge that history always has your back at this stage when you sense your opponent’s weakness; The kind of feeling that City had worked so hard to foster from the start before finally winning this trophy last year.

Perhaps Gatti, a 26-year-old central defender who had played in Italy’s third division as recently as 2021, channeled that certainty when he moved the ball into City’s half, laid it down and carried on. Until then, Gatti, who consisted only of blocks and scraps, had been content to appear significantly more committed to 50/50 than Erling Haaland. But now he was in the position of a striker waiting to take a flying volley that was too hot for Ederson and ultimately allowed Dusan Vlahovic to capitalize on due to poor work from Josko Gvardiol.

Gatti had done what none of City’s famous names could bring themselves to do: break the script, put a cat among the pigeons and add a shot of something stronger to the glass of lemonade. City had been too slow and too telegraphic and their only moment of real quality came when De Bruyne Haaland played beautifully to a drink that Michele Di Gregorio was reading. And there was another one: Di Gregorio, who was consistently brave and sharp between the posts, had only played above Serie B in 2022.

Juve had the heart and innate understanding of what they needed. If things continue like this, Francisco Conceição could provide a stay in England for his father Sergio, who is keen to get into the Premier League ranks. He beat Rico Lewis early on through sheer persistence and was the kind of constant, lively, sometimes headstrong but ever-present threat that City’s considerations ruled out.

There were flashes from Jérémy Doku, including a shot across the middle that looked like an equalizer shortly after Vlahovic’s goal. A few other attempts to mix things up, such as a first-half backheel from Jack Grealish that only resulted in crossed wires with Bernardo Silva, went awry. When Ederson thought for five seconds before firing a shot towards Haaland that might as well have taken the form of a hologram if he hadn’t missed that chance, he didn’t expect his colleague to remain motionless.

Weston McKennie sealed the ignominy with a joyful, cracking finish from Timothy Weah’s deliberate throw. In reality, there can never be any shame in losing here. But it is abundantly clear that City are in trouble and it would be a story if this team, set to thrive in this forgiving new Champions League format, crashes out of the competition next month. The visit of similarly struggling Paris Saint-Germain now brings a very different but potentially more significant advantage over the 2021 semi-finals. One win in ten simply isn’t enough and confidence, as Ilkay Gündogan suggested afterwards, appears to have been shaken.

Pep Guardiola ran his hand over his head after McKennie’s decisive intervention. At least he managed to avoid injury this time, but it’s quickly becoming a familiar sight. La Vecchia Signora had loudly set the tone here. For City, the fat lady could be the next to open her lungs.