Wine glasses were clinked, bread was broken and palms squeezed. It was an opportunity for new contacts and new friendships as dignitaries from Manchester City and Aris Thessaloniki settled down for a pre-match function ahead of Tuesday's Europa League tie in Greece.
Instead of using the official City team photograph the Greek club used a doctored version, with another five rows added to make room for just about every superstar footballer on the planet. Wayne Rooney, Kaká and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could all be seen, resplendent in blue. Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Mesut Ozil were also to be found. It was a 60-man squad, more in keeping with the album cover for The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
