If Manchester City are going to be in Cardiff for the Champions League Final on June 3rd, they may look back at a crazy night in February as the point when they caught lightning in a bottle. 

City have always underwhelmed in this competition since returning to the top tier of football, but in Pep Guardiola they have a proven winner at this level, and attack simply beat defence in a breathtaking 5-3 defeat of Monaco in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie between the sides. Monaco have 3 away goals, but City should have done enough to reach the quarter finals. 

The turning point was when Radamel Falcao missed a penalty as Monaco led 2-1 early in the second half. He had a great game, but appeared to hesitate before prodding a poor effort at Willy Caballero. A howler by Monaco keeper Danijel Subasic allowed Sergio Aguero to make it 2-2, and when Falcao scored again, Aguero rose to the challenge, his volley equalising for 3-3 nineteen minutes from time. 

That Aguero flourish was the catalyst for City to overrun Monaco in the final quarter as John Stones and Leroy Sane capitalised on some criminal Monaco defending to give City a 2 goal cushion for the second leg. 

For purists that extol the virtues of defending, it wasn't prime viewing. For the rest of us, it was football madness in its best form, a roller coaster with more thrills than screams. 

For City, a corner has clearly been turned since the defeat by Everton a month ago. 

And for Sergio Aguero, it's a reminder to his manager that he's lucky to have him in the absence of the injured Gabriel Jesus. The little Argentinian has always been one of the best in the world, and City can't hope to reach the promised land of Wales without him.