At times, Pep Guardiola seemed more concerned with coaching the crowd rather than the well-oiled machine he had sent out to play football.
After all, that takes care of itself nowadays.
This was a night when Guardiola implored his ‘people’ - as he calls them - to become the 12th man of an age-old cliche.
And they responded.
Not that City needed extra personnel - for large parts of this contest, they appeared to have about 15 compared to Real's 11.
But this felt like a defining occasion for Pep and his ‘people’, it felt as though their connection was cemented.
They have always loved him - he is learning to love them more and more.
If City go on to win the Champions League in Istanbul on June 10, there will be some who will wonder if that might be a good time for Guardiola to call time on his Etihad days.
He will have done everything, especially if that Champions League formed the final part of a treble.
But unlikely as it may seem, Pep’s City era - almost seven years to this point - might just be starting.
If you had suggested, early in his tenure, that Guardiola might create some sort of dynasty - of the sprawling multi-decade type created by Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger - he would have laughed you out of Manchester.
He probably still would.
His current contract runs until the summer of 2025 and surely that will be it?
After all, there were many supposedly shrewd judges who had him down as staying in the Premier League for three years, maximum.
He would be too intense, too obsessed, he would have to guard against burn-out.
Yet in the build-up to this match, Guardiola had never seemed so relaxed and jovial. He had never seemed to be enjoying his football, his job, so much.
Of course, why wouldn’t he be enjoying himself? The first-half performance here was as good as you will see from any football side, club or national.
It was different-level stuff and that they eased off in the second half was only natural.
But those 45 minutes must surely have Guardiola wondering exactly what this team, this squad is capable of.
He would want to keep the band together, which would mean persuading Ilkay Gundogan not to walk out on a free and convincing Bernardo Silva that the money and the grass is not greener in somewhere such as Paris.
But even if there are one or two departures, this is a squad - and a recruitment department - that can easily counteract the effects of any defections.
Guardiola will know that and will know he can create something even more special at the Etihad.
On top of that, he knows that the relationship between himself and his ‘people’ is becoming even more special by the day.
And a triumph in Turkey might not be some sort of fitting climax to the Pep era… it might be another beginning.
