There was a pause at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night when Karim Benzema had time to think. Manchester City’s players were protesting the penalty awarded for handball against Aymeric Laporte, with 80 minutes on the clock, and City 4-2 ahead in what had been a pulsating, breathtaking Champions League semi-final first leg.

Benzema grabbed the ball. He had been close at hand anyway, his mere presence nearby having disconcerted Laporte enough to cause the mistake. He placed it on the spot and waited to take the kick.

All Madrid fans, and players, and Benzema himself, knew that he had missed two penalties in Madrid’s last La Liga game, when Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera had twice guessed correctly to parry away efforts struck low to the goalkeeper’s right. Yet there was no doubt that Madrid’s captain was going to take the responsibility again.

With Pep Guardiola sitting on an ice-box on the edge of his technical area, chewing at his nails, Benzema fixed his socks, rubbed his ear, regulated his breathing and then stood almost completely still, staring down at the ball with a calm but serious expression on his face, looking occasionally across to the referee Istvan Kovacs for the signal he could take the kick.

There were just over 90 seconds between the award of the penalty and Kovacs blowing his whistle again.

Benzema immediately began his short five step run-up, then slowed to allow the Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson to sell himself by moving to his left, before chipping the coolest of panenkas right down the middle and high into the net.

The 34-year-old spread his arms wide in celebration, then punched the air while making eye-contact with teammates who he needed to keep focused for the final few minutes.