Manchester City were already perched atop the Premier League table and starting to find that ominous winning form we've seen so often in the past.
Pep Guardiola's slick team were clicking up through the gears and ticking off dominant performance after dominant performance.
And that was before Kevin De Bruyne decided to remind us that class is permanent. The Belgian's return to form is truly inauspicious for title rivals Chelsea and Liverpool.
'Emphatic' is probably the best word to describe De Bruyne's two finishes in Tuesday night's 7-0 shellacking of Leeds United, the Yorkshire club's joint worst-ever defeat.
His first was decent enough, slammed past Ilian Meslier at the near post as the available shooting angle narrowed.
But his second, a rising rocket from 25 yards that Meslier barely saw in time let alone react to keep it out, was a true 'look who's back' moment.
On the touchline, Guardiola turned away and gave it a double clenched fist celebration.
He's had to be patient with De Bruyne this season following a summer of injury issues and then a positive Covid-19 test in November that kept him out for four matches.
It explains why De Bruyne has started just six Premier League games all season, appearing mainly from the bench as he painstakingly rebuilt form and fitness.
We're still awaiting his first Premier League assist of the season - unusual given he got 12 last season and a whopping 20 the year before that - but Tuesday's two goals mean that now matters little.
The goals and assists will surely flow from here and the midfielder's revival coincides with a hectic time of the season that could easily see City steal a march.
They play Newcastle United, Leicester City, Brentford and Arsenal prior to a crunch clash with Chelsea on January 15 and Guardiola will expect nothing less than 12 points from 12.
With Bernardo Silva enjoying an excellent season, Raheem Sterling rediscovering his scoring touch and Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez all having good nights against Leeds, there is the sense City have achieved lift-off.
De Bruyne getting back to his best only adds another sparkling bauble to the tree ahead of a Christmas period in which depth of quality within a squad is crucial.
'He's phenomenal. We need him. He's so important for us. He is devastating. He can do what he wants,' gushed Guardiola after De Bruyne's outstanding display on Tuesday.
De Bruyne was so good as City won the Premier League title and the Carabao Cup last season, he retained his PFA Player of the Year award.
But things started to go wrong when he was forced out of the Champions League final against Chelsea with a facial fracture following a collision with Antonio Rudiger.
We'll never know whether De Bruyne's presence for the final half-hour in Porto would have averted a 1-0 defeat but it was a painful end to a season of 10 goals, 18 assists and several times captaining City when Fernandinho was absent.
The injury placed De Bruyne's participation at Euro 2020 in doubt but in the end he missed only Belgium's first group game.
His class shone through in the wins over Denmark and Finland that carried Roberto Martinez's team comfortably into the last-16.
Once there, a tackle by Joao Palhinha forced him out of the last-16 game against Portugal with an ankle injury and though De Bruyne recovered sufficiently to play the quarter-final with Italy, he couldn't avert a 2-1 defeat.
That ankle issue rolled over into the new season with City and he sat out early season games against Norwich, Arsenal and Leicester before being eased back in.
Guardiola has smartly managed De Bruyne's workload, doubly so after the Covid positive that saw him miss games against Everton, West Ham, Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain.
City have won every single match De Bruyne has missed but that shouldn't detract from his importance. His return to form and fitness represents an enormous boost.
'A lot has happened this year, a little bit out of my control,' reflected De Bruyne.
'At the time I was coming back, I got Covid. It happened and now we are working hard to come back to a good level.'
Guardiola and City would naturally rather De Bruyne missed games during the first half of the season and ease his way back to his best than during the pivotal final weeks.
Not only do City want to win a fourth Premier League title in five seasons, in what could easily develop into an absorbing three-way fight, they are desperate to break their Champions League duck.
Not every game will be as brutally one-sided as smashing seven past Leeds. But De Bruyne again looks sharp enough to be their match winner whatever the occasion.