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Some things haven't changed.
The way of playing at FC Barcelona, for example: One and a half minutes of possession and 35 passes preceded the opening goal against Alavés at the weekend, a record that exceeded even the most triumphant Tikitaka times.
Lionel Messi also delivered a vintage performance.
The six-time and insatiable world footballer scored two wonderful goals in his 505th league appearance for Barça (setting the club record), got one that tended to be wrongly denied and initiated two more.
Final score 5: 1, you feel ready for the game of games.
He turns up again: Lionel Messi seems to have come to terms with the situation in Barcelona
Source: AP / Joan Monfort
That will increase on Tuesday when the European arch-rival comes to the Camp Nou for the start of the Champions League round of 16 with Paris Saint-Germain.
Among other things, the mythical 6: 1 after 0: 4 in the first leg four years ago, the hostile € 222 million poaching of Neymar by the French also in 2017 and recent attempts to get closer to Messi, who was not contracted in the summer, are part of this duel between two mission-conscious titans;
Member-run traditional club one, ambitious prestige investment the other.
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At the draw in December, Barça had to be considered an outsider, if not an obsolete model: The institutional chaos of the highly indebted club that has been without leadership for months was reflected in fluctuating performance, while Paris, thanks to its alimentation from the Qatari state, should better cope with the Covid crisis ;
and underlined his new competitive strength in a complicated group with Leipzig and Manchester United.
Even the notoriously incalculable Neymar appeared completely integrated in France for the first time and swore loyalty for years.
But many things in football change very quickly, especially in a physically and nervously stressful pandemic season.
At Christmas, the Parisians fired their trainer Thomas Tuchel because of atmospheric disturbances in relation to their superiors.
Successor Mauricio Pochettino has so far not been able to prove that this measure could also bring progress in sport.
While Barça is now in stronger form and Messi - in response to the latest revelation of his record deal?
- suddenly with the productive furor of his best times again, the PSG coach has to do without his own star.
Neymar sustained an adductor injury at the Cup game in Caen last week;
and with that, large parts of the Parisian association peace are over again.
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The Brazilian is now rather unhappy again.
His - repeated - injury was preceded - as so often - borderline fouls.
"I don't know how much longer I can take it," he wrote in a desperate Instagram J'accuse.
Opposing coaches and players, but also journalists, would literally demand the attacks and then mock him as a crybaby.
Foul play: In addition to the entry of the opponent, this too often applies to Neymar's theatricality
Source: AFP / FRANCK FIFE
Sometimes he therefore asks himself “whether I am the problem”, and in fact: In relevant media such as the club-related “Parisien” or the sports primer “L'Équipe”, he got less sympathy to read the next day than accusations that his excessive lifestyle was for them frequent injuries.
In any case, his failure is a problem for PSG.
When he missed the second leg in the round of 16 in 2018 and both matches in 2019, Paris was eliminated.
Only with an operational Neymar did you get to the finals last season at least shortly before fulfilling your eternal obsession with the first Champions League title.
After all, PSG will not have to play against Neymar when they return to Barcelona as they did in 2017;
and not against the background noise of 99,000 people, next to the brilliant Brazilian at that time the second key to the historic collapse.
The empty stadium alone will be a reminder of the game of the century.
The football miracle of Barcelona: The players celebrate the 6: 1 against PSG
Source: Getty Images / Getty Images Europe
Improvisation is the trump card in the Champions League
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Elsewhere, not even the stones will create an emotional connection.
In Budapest, for example, where Leipzig competes against Liverpool and next week Mönchengladbach against Manchester.
In Bucharest, which will host Atlético Madrid and Tuchel's new club Chelsea next week, the Spaniards have won at least one Europa League, hence their choice.
You still have to pack your suitcase for the supposed home game.
Seen in this light, their entry ban in many European countries is an advantage for the British in sport these days;
one of the curiosities of corona football, which lead to the question of whether titles can really be given the usual value.
Or even more, because managing such adversities is also a quality.
In any case, a reliable forecast for the further course of the Champions League is hardly possible.
Nobody could be seriously surprised if the final is ultimately played out in an undreamt-of location between the limping and one-legged people: In the infernal rhythm of the game, the injury problems are already so massive in many places, accompanied by the constant risk of positive Covid tests.
Barcelona - 13 competitive games since the beginning of the year alone, including four with overtime - have recently missed both central defenders Gerard Piqué and Ronald Araújo.
Paris - in the summer only two and a half weeks break between the Champions League final and the start of the league - seems chronically flat and currently has Ángel Di María in the hospital.
Or what should Jürgen Klopp say, who competes in Liverpool practically the whole season without a single regular central defender?
Before the coaching duel between Klopp and Julian Nagelsmann on Tuesday, Liverpool, champion of 2019, is also a club that no longer seems as favored in February as it was in the draw in December.
At that time, the loss of defense chief Virgil van Dijk in particular seemed to be able to compensate surprisingly well, but at some point the moment always comes when the necessary extra efforts take their toll.
Departure: Virgil van Dijk was injured on October 17th and has been sorely missed at Liverpool FC since then
Source: Liverpool FC via Getty Images / Andrew Powell
Once the tiredness, both physically and mentally, is there, previously self-evident automatisms such as dominoes fall and even world goalkeepers like Allison look bad.
At the weekend, his collision with Ozan Kabak, who was signed up in the distress of Schalke, initiated the third defeat in a row, 1: 3 at Leicester.
In the snapshot, however, a good impression is made by Sevilla, Wednesday host of Borussia Dortmund and without conceding a goal for seven games.
Or Gladbach's opponent Manchester City, with 16 wins in a row across all competitions and eulogies from all sides for a Covid-adapted, more energy-saving style of play.
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The corresponding self-confidence could outweigh the European losers complex of the sheikh club, on the other hand, in all the bankruptcies of the last few years against Monaco or Lyon, you haven't exactly entered the race as an underdog.
In any case, things can look very different again for the return matches in March.
And the quarter-finals don't start until April.
Then you will see more clearly whether the Bavarians have recovered from air traffic controllers, politicians and other unreasonable demands during their trip to Qatar.
Thanks to fewer championship games compared to the other big leagues and the early DFB Cup, the chances are not that bad.
For now, Munich is the only champions from last year who are also at the top of the table this February.
Whether they can get themselves back in such impressive shape against Lazio Rome as they did in the Champions League final in August, however, must remain questionable.
In view of the stresses and strains, no team will be able to crush another team as it has often done in previous seasons.
As with everything in times of the pandemic, it is more important to adapt flexibly to the situation and somehow make the best of it.
Barcelona, for example, don't even have to try to play from a solid defense against Paris because they don't have any.
Carpe diem, attack as the only defense - it could be spectacular, despite everything.
In the top game and on the other courses, wherever.