So near yet so VAR for Manchester City: Tweet goes viral after Tottenham victory

VAR had a huge part to play in the quarter-final. [courtesy]

It was a night when very few people were in control of their emotions.

Rarely has an evening produced more ups and down than what was witnessed at the Etihad Stadium.

Most were lost for words when the final whistle of an epic Champions League quarter-final went at around 10pm.

But Manchester City's twitter announcement perhaps summed it up better than anyone.

Whether it was someone accidentally hammering on a keyboard, or some unwanted pocket typing, we'll never know.

But the 37 letters - wfiuhefijvbeojefvnojegfnvepgfjevgpinbgw - made much more sense of a gripping evening than most of us ever could. It was liked by more than 136,000 people.

It wasn't a replacement for an expletive from the City boss after Tottenham went through on away goals.

Pep Guardiola was measured despite VAR pulling his quadruple dream to pieces.

“It's tough,” said Guardiola. “We were close to going through. It's cruel, but we have to accept it.

“In the second-half we did everything, but it was a bad ending for us.”

“I support VAR. It's just to see that the goal from Llorente was maybe handball. From one angle it's handball. From another it's not.

“I am for fair football. When it's offside, it's offside. I don’t know about Raheem's goal. I saw the action and if the people decide it's offside, it's offside. What can I say?

“We missed a penalty in the first leg, but we created an incredible amount of chances today and I'm so proud, especially for the fans.

“It was an amazing night for us. I never saw the stadium like tonight, since I was here in Manchester. They know we gave everything, but football is like this, it's unpredictable.”

Now the Manchester City boss is demanding a reaction - and a Premier League title.

“We have to stand up and react,” said Guardiola. “We've fought for nine or 10 months in the Premier League.

"Of course it's tough and we have to do it until the end.”