I caught up with Víctor Sánchez del Amo in Madrid, the city in which he enjoyed a miraculous first big season as a two-footed winger for Real. Via a training-ground revolution, Fabio Capello instilled a unity of purpose and suddenly Los Blancos were La Liga champions.
The methods of the next short-lived boss, Jupp Heynckes, met with dressing-room resistance and league form collapsed. Yet it was that season in which Real ended their 32-year wait to be European champions. You could not make it up.