Adding Manchester City's enthralling 5-3 victory over Monaco to the emphatic demolition of Barcelona last November makes it tempting to ask whether City are beginning, at long last, to hit their stride in the Champions League. The gradual, year-on-year improvement sought by the club's owners in Abu Dhabi is clearly occurring. Not initially apparent, owing to three campaigns of false starts, the line ever since has been on the gradual climb.
From the initial stuttering start to life with the big boys, when City failed to make headway from groups that contained the likes of Bayern Munich (three times), Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, City finally escaped the group phases for the first time three seasons ago.