In a way, that Jack Grealish insisted on playing on said it all. Even though he instantly knew the injury was muscular, and had been thumping the turf in agony, he wanted to give it another go.
Against the wishes of Pep Guardiola, who appeared to be telling the winger that he had nothing to prove and not to do any further damage. In the end, Grealish lasted another 90 seconds before begging Manchester City team mates to boot the ball into the stand so he could join it.
Guardiola is right and wrong with that assessment. Grealish has nothing but everything to prove and the look of distraught as he realised his night in Copenhagen was over felt instructive.
Crucial in the Treble, and becoming the defining image of that success as he basked in the Manchester rain during their parade, Grealish failed to hit anywhere near the same heights this season, one that has included a traumatic break-in at his new Cheshire home – he’s purchased two new protection dogs – and a court appearance for a driving offence.
The latest, and biggest, blow to Grealish and his disappointing season came when Gareth Southgate axed him from England’s squad for the Euros on Thursday, capping off a campaign to forget for the Man City star.
Jack Grealish was seen laughing and joking in England training hours before he was axed
Grealish has not made England’s 26-man squad for the tournament in Germany this summe
It is a huge fall from grace for a man who became the face of Man City winning the Treble
Only seven Premier League starts before the game with Copenhagen, which had been the first time Guardiola picked him for over a month. He only made 10 all season. It couldn’t have been particularly easy watching Kevin De Bruyne roar back after six months out and have the manager compare him to a Brunello di Montalcino or Sassicaia.
So the opportunity in the Champions League was something Grealish wanted to grab and for it to end after 21 minutes summed up a campaign that has never got moving and ended with Gareth Southgate wielding the Euros axe.
He’s cut a very frustrated figure in training, desperate to play. Frustrated enough for Guardiola to remark upon it. It’s not like Grealish, the gregarious dressing room DJ, to allow that to show.
The players have noticed too. ‘Maybe he’s a bit down that he didn’t play as much but he’s still fighting,’ Nathan Ake said in February. He’d clearly channelled that in a more productive way in the build-up to the last 16 first leg on a night when Guardiola picked arguably his best starting XI.
Grealish always finds a place in the best team – especially at this stage of the season. The games become tighter, City face better opposition more regularly and his unique style of control from the left-hand side is something Guardiola usually requires. He’s always there for the big games.
But this term was different. Grealish was left out of the starting XI for the last two games of the campaign, the crucial 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur that all-but won City the title and the final-day win against West Ham that clinched the fourth in a row.
Grealish has never troubled – and will never trouble – the scorers in terms of goal contributions but has constantly offered more in other areas. The balance he brings, the slowing down of games with the perfect tempo, is a valuable commodity to a team that strangles others with possession.
Yet even after recovering from injury, his was more of a bit-part role, save for 90 minutes in victories against Crystal Palace and West Ham as City closed in on history.
Grealish won the Premier League with City but only played a bit-part role in the club’s success
Gareth Southgate has excluded Grealish not because of injury, but because of his poor form
Grealish pictured with fiancee Sasha Attwood after the final game of the Premier League season
In the end, he did not do anywhere near enough to get into Southgate’s final 26-man squad for the tournament in Germany. Dropped not because of injury, but because of his disappointing season with City.
Prior to Southgate’s decision – which means Grealish’s next major competition with England will come after his 30th birthday – the forward was struggling to get into the Three Lions boss’ preferred starting XI.
And a spot on the left flank had opened up. Marcus Rashford didn’t make the provisional squad. There is a clamour for Phil Foden to operate with Jude Bellingham in the middle, although Grealish’s City team-mate may be the one shifted out wide. Raheem Sterling appears to be out of the international picture was also not selected. Jarrod Bowen has been knocking around. Cole Palmer’s not a natural on that side.
None of it is fixed, probably providing Southgate with his biggest headache, and this run to the tournament should have been Grealish’s shop window.
The drama surrounding his early exit in Denmark was only exacerbated because of the six months prior and a sense that Grealish had been playing catch up. He’d found Jeremy Doku, the electric and unpredictable Belgian, ahead of him as City attempting to bed the youngster in.
City were becoming more direct, using more runners with the ball – embodied by the £55million summer signing from Rennes whose primary function is to embarrass full backs. Oscar Bobb’s snapping at their heels too.
Grealish cut a dismayed figure on the touchline after he was substituted with an injury against Copenhagen in February
The Man City forward never recovered from a slow start to the season, ending in him being cut from the Euros squad
Grealish cut a very frustrated figure in training at times and struggled for game time
Doku’s arrival coincided with a dip in Grealish’s form – and a dead leg, leaving him unable to walk – after the heroics of last year. There are some in this squad who can easily forget, can easily move onto the next thing.
Grealish is not one of those people and there is an acceptance around City that it has taken him far longer to shake off the Treble than others. Plenty of Guardiola’s stars are used to winning every year but for Grealish, to lift everything after a career spent at Aston Villa was harder to process.
‘I am not saying it is hard to get motivated – you can’t say that,’ he said on England duty a few months back. ‘But when you’ve done it, it’s kind of like, ‘What now?’ Do you know what I mean?’
In November, Guardiola said that he wanted him ‘angry’ at a lack of starts. He’d seen him perform superbly during the victory at Old Trafford – ‘Jack is back, he gave us more composure and pausa’ – only for displays to drop off.
Grealish and fiancee Sasha after City lifted a third consecutive Premier League title last term
The former Aston Villa star was wary of saying he had lost motivation in an interview while on international duty, having won the Treble last season
An encouraging appearance at Everton helped them win the game over New Year before he was then again out of the team following an average afternoon against Sheffield United. There has been no real consistency. Grealish would argue that he hasn’t been afforded the chance to build consistency.
‘This season was not like last season, but he’s getting better,’ Guardiola said in February. ‘Lately he is getting better. He’s doing the steps to get to his best level and now is competing with players at a high level.’
That seemed bang on during the opening exchanges in Copenhagen, with Grealish knitting City together, only for yet another setback.
It just didn’t happen for him, and while sitting at home as England target Euros glory comes as a devastating blow, he can have no complaints.
