Wednesday night was not the best performance we will ever see from Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, but they got the job done against Borussia Monchengladbach to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League.

Guardiola is an expert in Champions League progression and, although it was not the sort of flowing display he may have liked, he will have been pleased to see his team do enough.

To escape the match relatively unscathed was as important as the result in many ways, particularly after a key result against Crystal Palace last weekend. The chance is now there for Manchester City to focus the fitness of their best players on returning to the top of the Premier League, with nothing riding on their gameweek six fixture against Celtic.

Far from perfect, far from disaster, it was the sort of routine Champions League result that the best teams will have to cope with occasionally.

Work in Progress

We know how good this Manchester City team can be and they treated us to another period of sensational football against Monchengladbach.

David Silva's opening goal was perhaps the symbol of the football that Pep Guardiola wants his side to play. You cannot help but fear for the other Premier League teams once they can produce that consistently.

Defensive mishaps continue

Whatever formation or personnel Pep Guardiola names at the moment, Manchester City are managing to find methods to concede goals. Some have been bizarre, others have just been because of poor defending, but it is going to severely cost the Citizens sooner or later.

The early goal they conceded was never going to define their season, but it shows the troubles they are having.

Its not all Aguero

Fantasy football players will be all too aware that Sergio Aguero has not been the consistent goal scoring machine we had expected this season.

Playing with an army of attacking midfielders behind him, Aguero led the line, but the positive for City is that they are keeping their heads above water without their Argentine star scoring all the goals.

Testing times

A red card for Fernandinho might not have been a disaster for this game, but it will force Manchester City into a challenging corner.

How can they cope without their superb Brazilian midfielder?

He has been at the centre of so much good in the middle third and, without a player quite in the same mould, it will be interesting to see how Guardiola compensates against Celtic.

Future is bright

Manchester City are better than they were last season - that is hardly even a point of debate.

With adaptation under Pep Guardiola taking time, they are only going to get better, too.

Last season, they made it to the Champions League semi-finals. So, could this be the year they finally get their hands on the big prize?