You could have forgiven Max Aarons if he was a touch dazed when he trooped off just past the hour mark in Norwich City’s Premier League masterclass from Manchester City.

Mercifully perhaps for the highly-rated full back his shift ended early, with Sam Byram introduced to add ballast to an exposed right flank.

Aarons’ miscued clearance in a spirited first half was punished by Raheem Sterling to open the floodgates. But Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders made short work of turning this into a training session after the interval, when Ilkay Gundogan exploited the space vacated by Aarons to tee up Phil Foden.

In truth, that was as much about Josh Sargent failing to track the German midfielder’s burst. A running theme of this ultimately one-sided affair.

In the final analysis, three more points to the gold-lined kitty for what looks an inevitable defence of their title. But it was also a demonstration of the chasm on and off the pitch.

On it, there was an exhibition in how to exploit space, how to set traps and disorientate your opponent.

Aarons was swept up in the eye of the storm. If it was not Gundogan, it was Sterling. If it was not Sterling it was Olexsandr Zinchenko. Time and again the England Under-21 full back was left in a seemingly impossible dilemma.

For Norwich, you can choose to treat this in isolation and move on. Were it that simple, with another of the elite lying in wait this coming weekend in the first of two league and cup tests at Liverpool.

Thereafter the hope remains these choppy waters are becalmed. Or at the very least Dean Smith’s squad can strive to do more than simply tread water.

The hosts had their moments against the champions. Grant Hanley’s thumping header against Ederson’s post. An angled hit from Teemu Pukki and a scuff from Kenny McLean. But they were few and far between and to stand any faint hope of bridging the divide they had to be taken.

That is what they did back in 2019 on a balmy September night that with each passing Premier League tilt takes on a nostalgic shimmer.

You can reasonably argue, on the body of work that had preceded the latest duel, this is a better Norwich line up than the previous one who sent tremors around planet football.

But it is also unquestionably a better Manchester City. Guardiola was able to bench Kevin De Bruyne, Joao Cancelo and Aymeric Laporte. While Jack Grealish was ruled out through injury. Yet his side won at a canter.

Smith was quick to express disappointment at how compliantly his side acquiesced. The first three goals were all sourced in individual or collective aberrations from Norwich. The fourth, from the penalty spot initially, he labelled a ‘pathetic’ decision by the referee as it added a harsher tinge to the final scoreline.

Few would argue Manchester City were full value but there is a bigger picture in play. There is momentum and self belief and confidence to protect.

Now Smith and his coaching aides have a full week to prepare for Anfield, part one. To expect at this stage those inside the bubble to remain blinkered to what their direct rivals are doing is unrealistic.

The pack have rounded the turn for home and each match cycle will feel exponentially bigger than the previous one.

As much as this is about Norwich, it is also about events unfolding elsewhere. They need only refer to the start of this year, and that wretched sequence of losing games and firing blanks.

There was enough fresh evidence to harness, until Foden put the visitors out of sight, for what feels a defining league swing against the likes of Southampton, Brentford and Leeds.

Smith and Craig Shakespeare were able to navigate a path to firmer ground after a wretched December. They may need to do so again, if Liverpool proves no happier a hunting ground and relegation foes advance in the meantime.

The Canaries' head coach made it clear ahead of facing Guardiola’s stars there are no free hits, given the perilous nature of Norwich’s lowly station. Difficult as it may be he must ring fence games against two of the best in world football and circle the wagons for one final push beyond.

The sight of Mathias Normann fit and available and set to resume his rightful place in Smith’s midfield, following a series of cameos, offers a source of comfort and optimism.

When the head coach first arrived at Colney he surveyed his new squad, looked at the talent and the character, and declared they had enough to achieve their mission.

They may be a long way short of the very best but they are capable of mixing it with the rest.