Man City 9-0 Burton: Eight-hour journey for 15 mins of football - stories
Last updated on .From the section League Cup
Hours stuck on the motorway, a 9-0 loss and possibly another hammering to come.
Spare a thought for Burton Albion's fans.
The League One team travelled to Premier League champions Manchester City on Wednesday night to compete in their first ever semi-final.
It was supposed to be fairytale stuff. A night to remember.
Instead Burton came away on the wrong end of a nine-goal hammering - and they have to go through it all again in the second leg in two weeks.
The misery started before the game had even begun, with the closure of the M6 motorway meaning most of the 34 buses and coaches carrying the majority of the 3,000 Brewers fans from Staffordshire barely made it in time for kick-off.
Some weren't even that lucky.
An eight-hour journey for 15 minutes of football
Emily left London at 1pm for the 7.45pm kick-off - she arrived in time for the last 15 minutes and missed the first eight goals.
"It was a long journey for 15 minutes of football but having been stuck for four hours, I thought I wasn't going to go home so I just caught the final bit," she told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I was stuck on the M6 for around four hours in total."
To make matters worse, Emily's brother Edward was travelling to the game from Glasgow - and his ticket was with his sister.
But the combination of modern technology, some affable match stewards at Etihad Stadium and the evidence of their plight on BBC Sport's live coverage meant he got into the ground.
"My brother said he was just going to go to the ground to try and blag it in, but I sent him a picture of his ticket with the bar code of it, and they actually scanned the photograph of the ticket first," she said.
"He had to convince stewards it was true, and showed them the reporting on the BBC Sport website."
Fellow Burton fan Liz didn't even make it to Manchester - some might say she was one of the lucky ones.
"We are still just outside Stoke-on-Trent," Liz told 5 live, 10 minutes after the game had finished and 45 miles from Manchester.
"But we have just started to move. I was working in Nottingham this morning before I set off, and then I got as far as Stoke before we just stopped.
"I am absolutely gutted but it is just one of those things."
Any optimism for the second leg, Liz? "It is a game of two halves."
That's the spirit.
Burton boss Nigel Clough had some words of comfort for his side's loyal support.
"The worst part about it was our fans getting stuck in the traffic problems tonight making their way here," he said.
"They were here to celebrate not tonight's game but the fact that we had reached this semi-final."
'I think Burton have had e-neuf'
While Burton fans were suffering, neutrals had their fun on Twitter and by sending texts to us here at BBC Sport.
Louis: It's really annoying that Burton got in the way of that Man City training session.
Lordy159: So unlucky that the one coach that got there was the team coach.
James: Man City will be able to send out their under-15s for the second leg.
Andy: Alright. I think Burton have had e-neuf now.
BoroFanChris: I think Burton need an away goal now to keep this tie alive...
Paul: Only I could decide to plumb in the new washer and dryer and miss a 9-0 football match.
Craig: Imagine if Burton still make the final... that would stop Leicester fans from claiming the biggest shock in football history!
And what about Emily? What next for her?
"I am going to go back to my brother's place in Sheffield, have a couple of beers and a few hours' sleep before going back to London in the morning."
And surely nobody can deny she deserves a drink and a bit of kip?
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They have to take credit for getting to a semi final on such a small budget.
Good luck to them.
As for Manchester City, Pep invited Nigel Clough for a drink and shook hands with the whole Burton squad, many players swapped shirts. There was plenty of respect on show.
If they'd fielded a weakened team they'd have been accused of disrespecting the competition. Instead they fielded a strong team and just so happened to thrash their opponents. What were they supposed to do? Let Burton have a goal or two?
I certainly don't support Man City but what were they to do?
Not sure it helps, but I don't recall a team scoring 7 in one game and backing it up with 9 in the next - you could feature in pub quizzes for some time.
Trying to be positive, if you hold them to just 0-5 next time it will be a sign of progress.
Despite what all the folks complaining about money say, City really are a very good side.
Another villa “fan” living on past glories....
Well done Burton for getting to a semi final - hope you can get a decent result against Man City in the 2nd leg.
From a true football fan...
The game was won by half time, yet these great Burton fans kept on singing, I take my hat of to you all. Your players were also top, as they never really gave up.
Going easy on Burton or showboating to the crowd in such a situation is far more disrespectful.
Typical brain dead Villa fan. Obviously forgotten the last time they reached a league cup semi final 5 years ago when they were knocked out by a league 2 club.