Manchester City have plenty going for them ahead of the second leg of their Champions League tie with Real Madrid.
Not only do they hold an actual advantage - leading 2-1 that means any draw or a 1-0 loss will still take them through - but they are in excellent form; in six games at the Etihad since football restarted, they have six wins with five clean sheets and an average of four goals scored per game.
Recent history would back them as well. They have progressed in all seven Champions League matches where they have won the first leg away from home, while Real Madrid have a poorer record of coming back after losing the first leg while Zinedine Zidane has overseen just two wins from six games with English teams in the competition.
In Pep Guardiola, they not only have one of the best ever coaches in the game but also one with more knowledge of and more motivation for beating Real than pretty much anyone else.
But if all that goes in City's favour, they have lost the advantage that they were expected to have.
However much luck is needed to win the Champions League, a trophyless league campaign certainly helps. The last time Real Madrid won the tournament they finished 17 points and two positions behind Barcelona in La Liga, while it is easy to conceive that the Blues could have gone all the way last season had they not prioritised Crystal Palace in the league above the first leg of their quarter-final with Tottenham.
Normally disappointment in the league - not something Guardiola is used to - would increase a team's chances in the Champions League because they would be free to focus their attention - as City were primed to do this season.
This has been the most extraordinary of years, however, and a consequence of football restarting was the decision that the leagues would not run concurrently with European competitions. Instead of facing a Madrid side that were in the middle of a title race, both teams will have had at least a fortnight without a game to prepare.
Not only do Zidane's side not have to deal with simultaneous challenges but they are also on a high from winning their league - something that looked pretty unlikely around the time of the first leg.
City will still have plenty in their favour on Friday - the scoreline at kick-off being, again, a pretty big deal - but what was expected to be one of their comparative strengths has been wiped out.
