A decade ago, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez would have been secure in the knowledge that sooner or later La Décima would be lapping onto the shores of the Santiago Bernabeu.
Having won three European Cups in the six years leading up to 2002 and with Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo, Michael Owen, Iker Casillas and homegrown hero Raul in the squad...surely a fabled 10th Champions League trophy was only a matter of time.
The Zidane y Pavones philosophy seemed perfect - superstars supplemented by the best of what the Real Madrid cantera (youth academy) could produce.
Time was the optimum word though as the first era of Galacticos won precisely nothing. Indeed the Spanish giants had to wait until this May to secure a first Champions League title since the famous '02 final against Bayer Leverkusen which was mythologized by Zidane's volley.
The sale of under-appreciated defensive midfield lynchpin Claude Makalele, President Perez' itchy trigger finger and a lack of cohesion undermined what looked like a dream team on paper.
But that is often how these things pan out as the balancing act between the perfect team and the possession of a sizable clutch of match winners and egos is often fraught with difficulty.
That has not stopped Perez from trying to replicate the Galactico era of the past, however.
Real Madrid's team pose for the photographers shortly prior to their UEFA Champions League Group F soccer match against Olympique Marseille on the first match day of the Champions league in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday 16 September 2003. (L-R, back row) Goalkeeper Iker Casillas, Francisco Pavon, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Esteban Cambiasso, Zinedine Zidane. (front row) Michel Salgado, Roberto Carlos, Raul Gonzlaez, Raul Bravo and David Beckham. Real Madrid defeated Marseille 4-2. EPA PHOTO/EFE/JUANJO MARTIN
Safe in the knowledge that La Décima was achieved in Lisbon three months ago, he sanctioned the additions of World Cup superstar James Rodriguez and World Cup winning metronome Toni Kroos to a side that already includes reigning Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric and Xabi Alonso.
We got our first sight of this expensively assembled side in last night's 2 - 0 win over Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup.
But, while the match was one with relative comfort against a much weaker side, it is early days and it will take some time to see whether dropping the likes of Angel Di Maria (the Argentina winger was key to manager Carlo Ancelotti's 4-3-3 system in 2013/14) and the box-to-box Sami Khedira will damage the balance and cohesion of the side.
On the evidence of last night, Modric and Kroos held their positions relatively well, with neither needing to run beyond the attacking quarter of Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, and Rodriguez.
The back four also appeared to press relatively high up the field behind Kroos and Modric. While Sevilla were not able to trouble them unduly, it will be interesting to see whether stronger teams than Sevilla - who have lost key players like Ivan Rakitic this summer - will exploit the fact that last night's midfield lacked a genuinely defensive-minded player.
Ancelotti would seem to be one of the few managers capable of finding a solution and one must add that one of Perez' mistakes back in 2002 was to sack current Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque who seemed to have a similar ability to work with perceived superstars.
But do you think the current generation of Galacticos can avoid the fate of the Zidane, Ronaldo and Beckham era or will too many cooks spoil the broth?
