But hold on just one second. Manchester City were extricated from the nauseating humiliation of a defeat to a team they held a one man advantage over for 70 minutes on Tuesday night - a rescue mission launched by one man, Sergio Agüero, with the help of some wretched Bayern Munich defending.
City fans have every right to be delighted, but we can not let Agüero's brilliance mask how painfully bad we were tonight.
Bayern Munich are a terrific side. Even without Mario Götze, Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm, the German champions have the ability to toy with and tease their opposition. The £5m summer acquisition of Xabi Alonso goes some way to illustrating the genius of their manager Pep Guardiola, and the former-Real Madrid midfielder orchestrated a masterclass in possession until his 85th minute hiccup initiated an unlikely City comeback.
But the Germans, who saw Mehdi Benatia leave the field after just 20 minutes, should have never been given the freedom to control the game with such ease. Agüero's penalty fired the blues into an early lead that injected the side with confidence. Bacary Sagna and Jesus Navas provided City's main threat down the right flank in the 25 minutes that followed, but the Spaniard's delivery, as it so often does, disappointed.
We've made a habit out of failing to build on leads thus far this season, and a routine piece of impulsive defending from Eliaquim Mangala handed the visitors with the opportunity to equalise from just outside the box. Xabi Alonso coolly dispatched the resulting free kick through Joe Hart's poorly constructed wall with ease, and from there on, City's confidence deteriorated.
In fairness, Alonso's equaliser was cruel on Mangala who was City's best defender in the first half. The athletic Frenchman combined brute strength and aerial prowess to come out on top in his battle with Robert Lewandowski, but his French compatriot Bacary Sagna failed to shrug off the Pole as he headed his side in front just before the break. Hart, standing inexplicably off his line, should have positioned himself better, but it was poor defending that ultimately gifted Bayern a 2-1 lead.
An uninspiring second half followed. As Pep Guardiola rallied his troops from the dugout, Manuel Pellegrini quivered in the shadows, awaiting the barrage of criticism that was sure to assault him at the full time whistle. It's one criticism I have of the Chilean, who I believe could do much more to encourage and direct his players from the touchline. Yes, perhaps it's not in his nature to be so vocal, but when inspiration is lacking, it is down to the manager to provide a boost.
The tie descended into a tedious (at least for the home supporters...) exhibition of Bayern possession as Xabi Alonso and co. weaved through a makeshift midfield of Fernando, Frank Lampard and Samir Nasri. The Frenchman, brilliant against Swansea City on Saturday, is a talented player, but in big fixtures like this, he often fades out of the game and offers little in terms of creativity. Nasri can be wonderful, but he's extremely replaceable, and he lacks the influence and spark of David Silva who, quite simply, is a league above his team mate.
But in that same league resides Sergio Agüero who, without Silva and Yaya Touré, was forced to rescue his team mates from a sour defeat. The Argentine capitalised on mistakes from Xabi Alonso and Jerome Boateng to record yet another famous 3-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium in stoppage time - the name of the goalkeeper he slotted past, Manuel Neuer, evidencing just how lethal the striker's finishing is.
Agüero now has 17 goals in 18 appearances for the Blues in all competitions so far this season. He's keeping a wilting side alive, but the club must make sure that in no way does his situation resemble that of Luis Suarez's at Liverpool last term. The 26-year-old has pledged his allegiance to the club on numerous occasions since his move to Manchester in 2011, but a team as talented and as well funded as Manchester City cannot continue to heap their troubles on one man's shoulders.
The following Champions League qualification scenarios now exist for City, Roma and CSKA Moscow:
(Image via @Betfair)
It was a historic victory, one that we should celebrate, but beneath the excellence of Sergio Agüero, City's problems continue to hide.
