After a shambolic two-draw process and some serious head-scratching, Manchester City learnt their Champions League last-16 opponent on Monday afternoon.
City will face Sporting Lisbon over two legs next year, with City's original tie against Villarreal voided and discarded in the dustbin of history.
The first leg against the Primeira Liga champions will take place in the Portuguese capital in February, with the return leg at the Etihad Stadium slated for March.
The match-up, while by no means a mouth-watering classic, does throw up a few interesting narratives. City were eliminated from the 2011/12 Europa League by Sporting on away goals, with Joe Hart almost scoring an incredible last-gasp winner.
Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias and Ederson will have the chance to get one over the arch-rival of Benfica, the club where they all came through the ranks. If any of them needed extra motivation, now they've got it in the form of Sporting.
But for another fascinating storyline, you needn't cast your mind too far back.
It was August 2020, and City were through to the Champions League quarter-finals after seeing off Real Madrid in the last-16. Due to outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic - which saw City play the second leg of their last-16 tie with Real Madrid five-and-a-half months after the first - the format of the competition was tweaked.
That season the quarter-finals and semi-finals comprised of one-off single fixtures rather than the usual two-legged affairs and were played in neutral venues in Lisbon.
As you will painfully remember, City lost 1-3 to French side Lyon at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, home of - you guessed it - Sporting. After looking supremely confident against Madrid the previous week, Pep Guardiola's side capitulated.
Pretty much all of the things that had gone wrong for City that season conspired to perform an encore on the same night.
In classic Guardiola-overthinking style, the manager lined his side up in a 3-4-3 formation in an attempt to combat Lyon's counter-attacking 3-5-2 set-up.
Right from the off the City players looked unsure about their new, unfamiliar roles, and that cost them dear when Toko Ekambi evaded a flimsy offside trap in a breakaway that led to Maxwel Cornet's first-half opener.
Even though Kevin De Bruyne equalised in the 69th minute, City were supremely wasteful in front of goal, with Gabriel Jesus' terrible second half miss often forgotten about due to Raheem Sterling's YouTube-worthy open goal miss shortly after.
As was often the case that season, City's failure to hit the target was punished when Lyon raced forwards to score their crucial third goal just moments after Sterling's howler.
City were shockingly bad in defence too, and Ederson certainly didn't cover himself in glory with his fluffed attempt to prevent the third goal - the second of the night for substitute Moussa Dembele.
Guardiola's attempt to contain Lyon's counters failed miserably - I wouldn't be surprised if Rodri sees marauding Frenchmen in his nightmares.
In summary, City were abysmal. It was arguably the club's, and Guardiola's, worst night in the Champions League.
Now they have a chance to banish those demons for good. City have played two, lost two a the Estadio Jose Alvalade, so with Champions League progression on the line, there is no better time to address that winless record.
Do you think City will banish their demons of August 2020? Follow our City Is Ours writer Alex Brotherton on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
