City overcame the French champions 3-2 on aggregate to seal their place in the last four alongside Madrid, the city rivals Atletico and Bayern Munich.

Atletico progressed by knocking out reigning champions Barcelona for the second time in three years, meaning the statistic of no team retaining the Champions League still stands.

Real Madrid meanwhile have one man to thank for their place in the semis, former Manchester United forward Christiano Ronaldo.

Having been 2-0 down to Wolfsburg after the first leg, the Portuguese captain produced a vintage display to drag his side through with a classy hat trick.

The semi-final draw as it was meant that City avoided a potentially awkward tie with their manager in waiting Pep Guardiola and his current side Bayern Munich.

Since winning the Premier League in 2012 City's owners have put a higher emphasis on progression in the Champions League, but until this season they had not progressed further than the last sixteen.

Guardiola's appointment was seen as a move to ensure that the club would regularly reach the latter stages of the comeptition, with Guardiola having twice won the competition at Barcelona, and reached at least the semi-finals in his three seasons at Bayern.

No one expected Manuel Pellegrini to guide City this far after the announcement that he would be replaced in the summer was made earlier this year. Despite winning the League Cup, their title challenge has faltered massively since February, and their place in the top four is even under threat.

But should he progress to the final, and even go on to win the competition, potentially at the expense of his successor, some may be left wondering whether City acted hastily in replacing the Chilean.