Saturday, February 24th. The eve of the final.
The promotional image appeared everywhere on Saturday morning. On Sky Sports, between every ad break. On BT Sport, as the backdrop for the Ferdinand interview that was airing that evening.
On the giant screens at Wembley, which were being tested for tomorrow's broadcast. On the Carabao Cup's official social media accounts, which had been building towards the final for a week and which now had the image they had been waiting for.
The image was a split. Two faces. Two sides. A vertical line down the centre, the left half in Manchester City's sky blue, the right half in Crystal Palace's red and blue. On the left, Pep Guardiola.
On the right, Danny Walsh. Both in profile. Both looking forward. Both with the particular, focused, slightly distant expression of men who were thinking about a football match that had not yet been played but that already existed in their minds as a series of positions and movements and possibilities.
