Football with minimal jeopardy is a little more than nothing and that is the simple reason why, in an age of ceaseless comparison and need to rank absolutely everything, it is hard for neutrals not to feel hollow watching the Manchester City project reach its apex.
Before and immediately after Pep Guardiola’s side sealed the Treble against Inter Milan last night, the discussion was predominantly focused on where they rate among the greats – namely the only other English team to complete the feat.
And, if not that, then the topic usually becomes the means by which a club that for so long embraced the idea of Cityitis, that everything that could go wrong would, is now the most efficient machine in the sport thanks to a sovereign wealth fund using it to enhance its country’s reputation.
That Guardiola voluntarily offered his thanks and praise to the hierarchy who have made all this possible, long after Sheikh Mansour made a quick exit from Ataturk Stadium having watched the second match of his 15 years as owner, was one of few notable lines from the aftermath.
In a way City’s cold dominance, their unmatched ability to sterilise opponents, produces an additional urge to compare and contrast. Football, historically, is a game of emotions. Not one of surgical precision and transformative wealth.
Weighing up City’s success against United’s Treble or debating Guardiola’s place in the pantheon of coaching greats is difficult until the haze of last night lifts. And, certainly, the outcome to their off-field issues – 115 was trending on Twitter again overnight – will add imperative context down the line.
But even in a pure football sense they are pinned down by the curse of being too good.
The absence of drama, the shortage of late comeback wins and overcoming adversity simultaneously leaves neutrals bored and underlines just how much better they have been than everyone else.
It has been exceptional. It has been unexciting. It has been a clinic in dominance so linear that for those not of a sky blue persuasion it has all seemed rather dull.
Perhaps the new reality even makes the average football fan nostalgic for previous eras of dominance. At least there were dramatic nights to enjoy or endure in 1999 and the Anyone But United crew could still have some fun. (As an aside that was not even Sir Alex Ferguson's best United team.)
City are not appointment TV viewing in the same way United’s Treble winners were. What are the iconic moments of this season that the ordinary football fan will remember 10 years from now? Even the Real Madrid annihilation, an evening of exorcised demons, felt routine.
Last night, way off their best and against an opponent playing to its maximum, they still found the way. Rodri’s goal was a beauty but it will go down as the Romelu Lukaku fluffs his lines final.
That City have spent less time behind in games since early February than United were against Bayern in that iconic final 24 years ago sums it up.
Guardiola, meanwhile, has joined an exalted band of four to win three European Cups; the sixth to win with two different clubs. Yet in every situation he has had resources few can match.
“This competition is a coin,” he said last night. He meant the toss of one, this being a competition where luck is required. But a few billion to spend on the best that can be bought at City has sure helped.
At Barcelona, only Real could compete financially and he had prime Lionel Messi. Such is the disparity in riches at Bayern Munich, any campaign without a Bundesliga title is a humongous failure and his European shortcomings made his three seasons in Bavaria about par.
City’s resources, meanwhile, have proven limitless under Abu Dhabi’s ownership. In all three he has inherited teams already bonafide contenders and made them better.
The Catalan may go down as one of the great innovators - John Stones the Barnsley Beckenbauer! Six midfielders and no striker! - but the absence of an organic build on his CV leaves him down the pecking order for many observers.
Conversely is it fair to argue that Guardiola is the victim of circumstance here? He cannot be blamed for the super club era, the skewed wealth and billions of investment from sovereign wealth funds or hedge funds. It is natural that the best talent will go to the richest and to think Guardiola must end up at a less well-heeled club to really prove himself is folly.
Not that such polemics will play on the mind of the Catalan and his players as they wake up this morning.
He has always said that not delivering a first Champions League to City would make him a failure. That weight has been lifted and now, half jokingly, he is talking about building a stadium for all the trophies they have won. If so they should ensure there is plenty of space left on the shelves.
But to expect the average punter to enjoy what we have just witnessed? A step too far.
