If Karim Benzema did not play for Real Madrid, fans of Manchester City would have booked their flights to Paris by now.
Benzema kept his team in their Champions League semi-final, just as he has propelled them to dominate La Liga this year.
The wonderful images of the amiable Carlo Ancelotti puffing on a large cigar as he celebrated Real Madrid's title are a result of Benzema's remarkable form: 29 league starts, 26 goals, to go with 10 European starts and 14 goals.
Including his performances for France, Benzema has scored 47 times this season. His longest barren run for his club has been just two games.
Of all Real Madrid's players, Benzema has been the one to come bustling out of Cristiano Ronaldo's shadow, but his success this season runs deeper than that.
This is about more than now being able to occupy position A in the penalty box. This is about always knowing where position A will be. Benzema is 34 now, an age at which a striker was thought to be finished.
Karim Benzema kept Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final vs Manchester City
The French star scored twice in his side's 4-3 loss at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday last week
It was goalkeepers who matured with age, goalkeepers who took a decade or more to learn their craft. The best goalscorers were long gone by then.
Jimmy Greaves made his Tottenham debut in 1961 at the age of 21, the same year Dino Zoff played his first game for Udinese, at 19.
By the time Zoff kept goal for Italy at the 1982 World Cup, Greaves had been out of the professional game for 11 years.
So goalkeepers got the chance to pour all of that wisdom, all of that experience, into a long career. Zoff was 40 when he won the World Cup. There was nothing about his trade he did not know.
That is Benzema, now. This is his 18th season as a professional footballer, 18 years of working out where to stand, when to go, where to move, how to disappear and reappear as the greatest goalscorers do.
Time was, it would be over by now. Just as it was falling most naturally into place, just as it was clearer than ever what was needed, Benzema's body would have been letting him down. No more.
The wonderful images of Carlo Ancelotti (right) puffing on a large cigar as he celebrated Real Madrid's title are a result of Benzema's remarkable form: 29 league starts, 26 league goals
City are hoping to buy another phenomenal striker in Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland (above) this summer, hoping that, in 13 years' time, he'll still be just as good as Benzema is now
Strikers now last longer than ever and leagues contain a new breed of goalscorer, playing longer than before, able to use experience to the maximum: Jamie Vardy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo. Ciro Immobile, top goalscorer in Italy, is 32.
Talking with Peter Schmeichel, he made another point about Benzema. He's old-fashioned. A lot of modern strikers, even the most potent ones such as Mo Salah, are glorified midfield players.
Salah attacks from the flanks, or from deep. He's not a central No 9. Benzema is. He wants to hold that position, lead that line, wants to get physical, play high, wants to use his innate gift for movement to its best effect.
Defenders are not used to dealing with that these days. Benzema unsettles them. Oleksandr Zinchenko thought he was in a good position for Madrid's first goal last week. He thought he had his man covered. He didn't.
Benzema beat him to the ball, cushioned his volley into the net. Zinchenko probably won't face another opponent capable of that this season. Manchester City won't face another striker of his calibre, either, no matter who they play.
They are hoping to buy one in Erling Haaland this summer; hoping that, in 13 years' time, he'll still be just as good as Benzema is now.
Why would Pep walk away from City?
Jurgen Klopp having signed a new contract with Liverpool, all eyes turn to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
He's already long passed his stay at previous clubs and has spoken of wanting to try international management. Typically, Guardiola does shorter stints than Klopp, we know that. Yet, why not? Why wouldn't he stay?
It would be strange for City manager Pep Guardiola (pictured right) to walk away from the club
Set aside the incredible support he receives at City and the financial power of the club, where is Guardiola going to find an epic challenge on the scale of the battle with Liverpool? There is nothing like it out there for him.
Nothing that would test his ability as coach and manager, tactician and mentor, selector and recruiter. It is without doubt among the reasons Klopp wanted to stay.
Yes, he is right for the club and his wife likes their life here, those are compelling motivations, too. But, professionally, how rewarding must this season be?
He has the chance to win the quadruple, while up against one of the greatest teams this country has ever seen. He is pitting his wits against one of the games' finest minds. And there is mutual respect.
Where else would the Spaniard get the chance to face world-class stars like Mohamed Salah (left) and Virgil van Dijk (right) of Liverpool, plus Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, on a regular basis?
In purely professional terms, for all of his achievements at Borussia Dortmund, this must be the time of Klopp's life. A third Champions League final in five years is a distinct probability. Dortmund were a good team, but they couldn't do that.
And Guardiola? Could we seriously imagine a coach as driven as he is, content to wait for meaningful competitions every two years?
Wading through qualifying rounds of mismatches, shorn of drama, waiting months for the chance to have a crack at opponents that are palpably inferior when he could be up against Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. And Klopp.
Guardiola walked away from Barcelona once, from Lionel Messi and his Catalan home. He could walk again. But surely the challenge is here, and now, which is what Klopp recognised. It doesn't get better than this.
Kick partisan journalists out of the press box
The fans alleged to have attacked two German radio commentators when West Ham played Eintracht Frankfurt last week will be banned indefinitely from the London Stadium.
Rightly so. They are two-bob thugs who rained blows on people who were at work, and sitting down, unable to fight back or even defend themselves. Get them out, and get them out for good.
There are increasing problems, though, with partisan press boxes. It is not unusual these days to be in the presence of fans with laptops or microphones, particularly at European games.
Goals are celebrated, commentaries are blatantly biased and emotional. Every major club has an
