There seemed to be little danger when Fabinho aimed a testing but hopeful long ball over the Manchester City defence, but then it happened.
The Monaco teenager, who had been the talk of the press box before the match, darted goal side of Nicolas Otamendi, watched a bouncing ball until it was perfectly in his stride and lashed a stunning first-time finish into the roof of Willy Caballero’s net.
Kylian Mbappe had arrived.
It was truly a privilege to witness the then-teenage star make his full Champions League debut on a sensationally raucous and chaotic night in east Manchester in February 2017.
City eventually won 5-3 thanks to a brace from Sergio Aguero, despite his future colleagues Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva excelling.
Still, it was Mbappe who took the breath away. He was the player you caught yourself thinking of in fleeting moments over the days that followed, in both awe and fear due to the knowledge a return tie was still to come the following month.
Champion of France, champion of the world
When the game at Stade Louis II came around, Monaco’s breakout star was in full flight and in the process of inspiring the club to an improbable Ligue 1 triumph. He scored early on and City never recovered, eventually exiting on away goals after a 3-1 defeat.
Borussia Dortmund suffered similarly in the quarter-finals and, later that year, Mbappe followed Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain. By 2018, he was a world champion and the heir apparent to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo - more on him a little later.
In many respects, his Etihad outing lit the fuse for all that followed, but Pep Guardiola already knew the danger that lurked.
"Mbappe, he is so fast,” the City manager said after that initial encounter, wearing some combination of a grin and a grimace.
Guardiola reportedly tried to buy a largely unknown Mbappe six months earlier and it remains tantalising to consider how an alliance between such a prodigious talent, and a man celebrated for developing and honing the best around, might have panned out.
For anyone of a Manchester City persuasion, it is also hard not to consider Monday night's report by RMC Sport that Mbappe is stalling on a new PSG contract in this context. An unnamed English club apparently formalised before things heated up again on Tuesday evening.
A galactico alternative to Kane?
The French outlet acknowledged the long-established mutual admiration between Mbappe and Real Madrid, and Los Blancos declared an end to their galacticos hiatus with a €160million bid despite the player's contract expiring next June . Times of financial hardship for LaLiga's giants are relative to circumstance, it seems.
City are mulling spending a similar wedge of cash to break the British transfer record for the second time this summer - the sort of wedge that would impress most people not called Daniel Levy. The Harry Kane saga has become a wearying trudge for all involved.
Around the same time as the Mbappe news broke, on a social media evening seemingly conceived by the directors of El Chiringuito, L'Equipe claimed Cristiano Ronaldo was trying to engineer a move to City.
It seems beyond doubt that Kane is Guardiola’s only target at centre-forward, an ideal candidate to whom no other can compare. However, it also seems hard to imagine Pep won't have kept an occasional eye on the uncertain future of a superstar he has long coveted.
Yes, Mbappe and Kane are very different players and - more significantly - business between City and PSG under their current ownerships has never looked like much of a going concern.
But what is the final week of the transfer window for if not last-ditch pipe dreams? That first impression left by Mbappe means there is a fondness for the player at City that Ronaldo's United association means he can never match.
The Etihad Stadium suited you to a quite ravishing degree four-and-a-half years ago, Kylian. Perhaps it's time to call it home.
Would you like Manchester City to launch an audacious late bid for Kylian Mbappe? Follow our new City Fan Brands Writer Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
