Manchester City have never looked more ominous than Wednesday night. Swatting aside with ease Real Madrid felt like a new landmark for not only Pep Guardiola but for European football. Making the task of dethroning the reigning holders Los Blancos look as simple as a cup tie against a Championship minow.
Can it get any better than this? Their Premier League rivals will be hoping not as they now charge towards a likely treble which could be sealed within the next three weeks.
The threat is very real that this is only the next chapter of City's dominance. A win against Chelsea on Sunday will secure a fifth title in six years. Incomprehensibly, it was Nathan Jones' Southampton that stopped the talk of a quadruple with a rare win in the Carabao Cup in December.
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In London, the three major clubs all face summers of varying change. Mikel Arteta has to soothe the wounds of a failed title charge, one that for many months looked like altering the course of Arsenal's history. Reviving that spirit to go again will be tough, as will adding depth and quality to this well-assembled squad in the transfer market.
A chaotic Chelsea coming off the back of a year of change in ownership, managers and players desperately need clarity. Even the chatter of rivalling City feels ages away, just having a coherent football team is the first task for Mauricio Pochettino who needs to calm down owners who have been accused of boasting more money than sense.
Daniel Levy is still in search of his next permanent head coach after dismissing both Antonio Conte and his assistant Cristian Stellini in the past couple of months. Even if Spurs may still boast some European football next season, they look like a club in disarray, completely devoid of any impetus or energy.
Only Arsenal look readily capable of mounting a serious challenge again to the juggernaut of City after this season's performance, but that requires a level of performance which might prove hard to replicate.
If the Premier League title is out of reach for everyone below City, what does success look like? Mere Champions League qualification might not be as significant for Arsenal next term given their step forward this season. For Chelsea and Spurs, getting back into the top four will be seen as the main priority. But then what comes after that?
City's perfection means that even the peak of growth for Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea in the coming years might still not be enough given how far City are ahead in coaching, recruitment and finances. This is an important distinction to make, because whilst some spend most of their time writing about how unfair this all is, City's competitors are not poor. We are talking about some of the richest clubs in the world in the richest league in the world.
Just like January, this summer will likely see the Premier League outspend all the other top European leagues by some distance. Arsenal are being linked to Declan Rice for £92m, and Chelsea might splurge on yet another centre-forward too. City may look streets ahead but these are not the same financial parameters that some compare with the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain or Bayern Munich in Germany.
City have fully maximised their wealth. Recruiting the best in class across the executive, recruitment, coaching and playing staff. Matching that perfection is not going to happen over 12 months and given the talent of Erling Haaland, Premier League defences have some pain to go through still.
The departure of Guardiola is probably rivals' best hope for a stumbling block to this runaway train of excellence. But that is uncertain in the coming moment, it may be a year of five, and clubs cannot stress about that. For fans, judging their coaches and players may have to be revised in the current landscape.
City's talent is more than capable of winning half or more of the available trophies, but that does not mean you cannot have productive campaigns. A haul of over 80 points is a notable tally, growing the solid foundations for future success should not be sniffed at either.
However, the reality of demanding fans, reactionary media and trigger-happy owners makes for a concoction of short-term thinking.
The London clubs need to become smarter, and more specific about their plan and ideals. Something Arsenal learnt several years back, now it is time for Chelsea and Spurs to follow suit. But as the Gunners found out harshly this season, even those great plans could be undermined by City, who are just better.
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