Meaningfulness should return to European football this week as the rambling and incoherent first phase finally winds to a close.
A grand total of 126 games played already and the Champions League boils down to whether Manchester City can beat Club Bruges at home or whether Paris Saint-Germain might come a cropper in Stuttgart.
There’s a bit more going on in the Europa League but there always is and that’s about where the intrigue ends. Some clubs might have a playoff round they’d rather avoid but all bar 12 of the 36 teams live to fight another day.