For 12 months, Bayern Munich have won and won again.
This time a year ago, Bayern were just a point clear at the top of the Bundesliga with the knockout stages of the Champions League still to negotiate.
But an outstanding, record-breaking 23-match winning run – the longest by a German club since the formation of the Bundesliga – took in four titles: the league, the DFB-Pokal, a sixth European crown and the UEFA Super Cup.
Since the conclusion of that remarkable stretch, which started on February 16 and ended with defeat on September 27, Bayern have added the DFL-Supercup, three days after the Hoffenheim loss, and now, with victory over Tigres UANL on Thursday, the FIFA Club World Cup.
Hansi Flick's side have bettered the efforts of their class of 2013, who won a meagre five trophies, losing Pep Guardiola's first game in charge to Borussia Dortmund in the domestic Supercup.
Indeed, this Bayern team, beaten 5-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt last season prior to Flick's appointment, have set a standard never previously seen in German football.
Champions of Germany, of Europe and on top of the world, the challenge now is to stay there.
David Alaba would appear set to leave and there is uncertainty, too, surrounding Flick, while the team have not evolved on the pitch.
It has been easy, of course, for Flick to set his side out to do the same again, having swept past Tottenham, Chelsea, Barcelona and Lyon before edging Paris Saint-Germain in last season's Champions League.
They lost Thiago Alcantara and signed Leroy Sane, who started and struck the crossbar with the best effort of the first half on Thursday – Joshua Kimmich's disallowed goal aside – but Bayern might well have shown only one change from the win against PSG if not for Leon Goretzka's recent coronavirus battle, Thomas Muller's positive test and Jerome Boateng's grave personal matters.
Even then, Benjamin Pavard, only absent due to injury last term, would have replaced Thiago, with Kimmich now back in midfield.
Bayern are attempting to repeat last season; they have three trophies to their name, boast a seven-point advantage in the Bundesliga and are through in Europe, but the swagger is not quite there at this stage.
Falling short of the level of dominance in 2019-20, Bayern are averaging 16.8 shots per match, 6.7 shots on target, 615.8 passes and 62.2 per cent of the possession – across the board the lowest marks since Guardiola arrived in Bavaria.
Continuing at the helm, unlike Jupp Heynckes after Bayern's previous Champions League triumph, Flick has not followed Guardiola in boldly transforming the team.
The Catalan coach shifted Philipp Lahm into the middle of the pitch, where he was joined by a fit-again Toni Kroos and new signing Thiago. Bayern averaged 572.2 passes per game and 61 per cent of the possession in 2012-13 and 727.9 passes per game and 71 per cent of the possession the following year – complete control.
This time, Sane was supposed to take Bayern to another level but has struggled to build on a fine debut against former club Schalke. Alaba's exit would rob them of a more valuable asset.
And given the swashbuckling style of last season's success, even with their trophy haul still growing, anything other than a serious tilt at the Champions League would surely be considered a failure. The bounce of a ball in one of sport's most unpredictable competitions could well dictate the mood music in Munich.
Bayern were value for their victory on Thursday, even if it ultimately relied on a scruffy Pavard strike, and have enjoyed a truly historic year.
However, if they are to prolong their peak and make this more than a 12-month merriment, they might need to again show a little more. Another 23-match winning run ought to ease any concerns.
Jack Grealish believes he should have been in England's Euro 2024 squad
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England's Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions' 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September's Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
"I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it," Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate's decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
"You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
"I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn't meant to be."
Grealish started just 10 league matches for Manchester City in the 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
While he admitted that he "didn’t have the best season" domestically, he was left "devastated" by his omission and said that missing out on Euro 2024 was "probably the most difficult period of my life".
Grealish scored in England's 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin last month, and will be hoping for more of the same against Greece and Finland in the coming week.
Asked if he felt he had a point to prove, Grealish made it clear that he wanted to show people what England were missing at Euro 2024.
"Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well," he said.
"I thank Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
"It obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.
"It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can't speak highly enough of him since I have been here."
Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League thriller
Chelsea kicked off their 2024-25 Women's Champions League campaign with a 3-2 victory at home to Real Madrid in Group B.
The victory puts the Blues in second in their group after one match, while it was a perfect start for manager Sonia Bompastor, who was taking charge of her first Champions League game for the club.
Bompastor led Lyon to the Champions League final in two of the last three seasons, winning it in 2021-22. She will be hoping to do the same in west London this season and things got off to the perfect start for her and Chelsea in this game.
Sjoeke Nusken's second-minute goal put the home side ahead - unsurprisingly, that is the quickest goal in the Champions League this season.
In miserable weather at Stamford Bridge, things got even better for the hosts after they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Nusken. Guro Reiten made it 2-0 from the spot in the 28th minute, with Madrid goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez unable to get a hand to it despite diving the right way.
But Madrid were back in it 11 minutes later, with Alba Redondo finishing tidily through Zecira Musovic's legs - her second Champions League goal in as many matches.
They were unable to make the most of that lifeline, with Chelsea restoring their two-goal advantage soon after the break. Mayra Ramirez scored her first goal of the season, heading in Lauren James' cross seven minutes after the restart.
The drama was not finished though. Substitute Linda Caicedo once again cut the deficit for the visitors, making it a nervy final seven minutes for Chelsea, but the home side held on to claim a valuable three points.
Chelsea have now lost just one of their last 19 group stage matches (W13 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 13 (W10 D3); the only other team to have participated in every group stage since they were introduced in 2021 and lost just once is Barcelona (W16 D1).
Elsewhere in Group B, Celtic were beaten 2-0 by FC Twente in their opener, which marked their first-ever game in the Champions League.
Kayleigh van Dooren netted twice for the Dutch side, although the Scottish champions held out until the 44th minute before conceding.
In truth, they were second-best with the visitors dominating possession, having over 70% of the ball, and taking double the shots on target of their hosts (six to three). Twente got a second five minutes from time and go top of the group.
Palmer named England's Men's Player of the Year
Cole Palmer has been named England's Men's Player of the Year for 2023-24.
Chelsea star Palmer came off the bench to score in the Euro 2024 final, although England ultimately lost 2-1 to Spain in Berlin.
Palmer has only nine caps to his name, and just two starts for the Three Lions, but he finished ahead of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka in the public vote.
The 22-year-old made his debut in a 2-0 win over Malta in November of last year, and has scored two international goals, including that strike against Spain in July.
Palmer is the first Chelsea player to scoop the award since Ashley Cole in 2010.
Since he joined Chelsea from Manchester City last season, Palmer has directly contributed to 44 league goals (28 goals, 16 assists).
Of players to feature in Europe's top five leagues, his England team-mate Harry Kane has provided more goal contributions (53 - 41 goals, 12 assists) in that time.
Earlier this season, Palmer became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match when he scored all of Chelsea's goals in a 4-2 win over Brighton.
Palmer is expected to feature when England take on Greece in the Nations League on Thursday.
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