It really did look like the stars were aligning for Borussia Dortmund at the beginning of the season.
Erling Haaland had been every bit as devastating as they'd hoped he would be, they'd resisted the advances of Manchester United for Jadon Sancho and seemed to have a team nicely blending youth and experience.
What's more, Dortmund had enjoyed the luxury of a decent pre-season, unlike their title rivals Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, who'd been engaged in Champions League commitments well into August.
So surely 2021 was destined to be the year that the Bundesliga's chronic nearly-men finally claimed their first title since 2012.
Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out quite as they'd hoped.
Numerous disappointing defeats, innumerable recurring problems and a managerial sacking later, this talented Dortmund team face the prospect of being bundled out of title contention at the season's halfway point.
How immensely frustrating it must have been for interim coach Edin Terzic and his team to follow up brilliant wins over Wolfsburg and Leipzig with a 1-1 draw at home to bottom club Mainz on Saturday.
Next up are far tougher assignments against third-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday and Borussia Monchengladbach - who came from two down to beat Bayern last week - on Friday.
Dortmund are already seven points behind leaders Bayern and any dropped points this week will pretty much kill off any lingering title hopes.
Some will be quick to argue that Terzic, as a stand-in coach, is expected only to secure a top-four finish, ensuring another season of Champions League football, and then step aside gracefully for the new manager, probably Gladbach's Marco Rose.
But merely finishing in the top four marks a drastic revision of pre-season expectations. Dortmund really should be genuinely challenging Bayern for the title; their current situation isn't good enough.
In his six games since Favre was sacked on December 13 in the wake of a 5-1 thrashing by Stuttgart, Terzic has sought to address some of the many issues within the team.
One of the first things he did was switch Dortmund to a settled 4-2-3-1 system, dispensing with Favre's ill-suited three in defence set-up.
But Terzic was Favre's assistant and it will take the new broom of a new manager to properly address all the issues. That won't come until next season.
Haaland is one of the players who can't be blamed for Dortmund's funk. With 19 goals in 17 matches this season, the 20-year-old Norwegian hasn't missed a beat from the last campaign.
Haaland has scored at the rate of one goal per game since signing from Red Bull Salzburg a year ago and Europe's heavyweight clubs will form an orderly queue when his £66million release clause kicks in next year, although there is talk of Chelsea lining up an earlier. bigger bid.
Dortmund will enjoy his goals in the meantime but the abiding memory of Saturday's draw with Mainz was Haaland in various poses of frustration after missed chances or when the ball didn't come his way in good positions.
He didn't look too impressed when Jude Bellingham ignored him in a tap-in position to shoot in search of his first Bundesliga goal. Bellingham hit the post.
As for Sancho, there are signs the England star is beginning to find his best form again after a sluggish start to the season, responding better to Terzic than Favre.
He scored a breakaway goal to seal the 2-0 win over Wolfsburg and was then outstanding in the 3-1 win at Leipzig, scoring Dortmund's opener then teeing up Haaland for their second.
Sancho may yet match last season's 20 goals and 20 assists (he has six and 11 respectively) but the feeling half a season has been lost persists.
There was a certain smugness about Dortmund's hierarchy when United chief Ed Woodward balked at their £108m asking price in the summer and walked away. After all, Dortmund had no cause to sell him.
But Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted earlier this month that Sancho had 'subconsciously already prepared a little for a change' of club and was expecting to be wearing United red rather than Dortmund yellow.
Had Sancho not had all this drawn-out off-field distraction during the summer window, Dortmund could well be leading the Bundesliga right now.
For all their attacking verve, Dortmund are shockingly slow to get going in games. Only five of their 32 Bundesliga goals so far have come in the first half.
They certainly passed up lots of opportunities against Mainz but it has become a running theme. They seem to too often lack the drive to get games won before half-time, sometimes needing the kick up the backside of a conceded goal to hit their rhythm.
Energy should not be a problem here. A last-16 exit from the Champions League in March meant Dortmund's 2019-20 season ended when the Bundesliga did on June 27.
By contrast, title rivals Bayern played on until their victorious Champions League final on August 23 and started this season on September 18, a turnaround of only 26 days.
The Bavarians do look knackered already amid a frantic fixture list that still sees them have to go to Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup next month. And yet, there they are, four points clear at the top.
Dortmund should have been primed to capitalise when the fatigue kicked in - likewise for Leipzig, who went out the Champions League in the semi-finals on August 18 - but they're too far back.
Defensive vulnerabilities have hindered Dortmund time and time again this season. Favre's insistence they play out from the goalkeeper was a gift for teams that deployed a high press.
The likes of Mats Hummels, Lukasz Piszczek and Manuel Akanji at the back are often left with split-seconds to find a pass. When pressured into giving the ball away, opponents often have men spare to capitalise.
Terzic has tried to firm up the defence by partnering Hummels and Akanji, with Thomas Meunier and Raphael Guerreiro as more orthodox full-backs in a back four.
But Dortmund are often vulnerable on the counter, which is ironic given their strength attacking other teams with speed and incision.
Set-pieces have also been an Achilles heel. Five goals have been conceded from corners this season, the kind of recurring theme that infuriates coaches.
Terzic can only do so much to address these problems while still picking up enough points to ensure a top-four finish.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League raises the prospect of rivals picking up Haaland, Sancho and other talents for a deflated price this summer.
That's why this week, with games in quick succession against top-four rivals, could make or break them.