Manchester City's nouveau riche image as serial European failures in many people's eyes might have to be revised over the next three months.
City's tidy demolition of Dutch champions Feyenoord in their own raucous De Kuip stadium served to show the rest of Europe that a club brought up on the traditions of flop and blunder might just be a proper continental force to be reckoned with at last.
Far from flattering them, the 4-0 score line was understated, such was the away side's dominance. Carrying on where they had left off at the weekend against Liverpool, where the five-goal difference might also have been considerably more, City bestrode De Kuip's turf with an authority only sporadically seen on their European travels.
Even in a steady upswing of fortunes in their six-year Champions League trajectory, the club was in the middle of a seven-game run without a win away from home.
Having begun life in this most prestigious of tournaments as a stumbling also-ran that seemed incapable of loosening itself from the grip of bad draws and tough opponents, City have at last come of age.
Many pundits were complaining on Tuesday that the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United and PSG had all run riot against poorly equipped opposition, and City did the same with Feyenoord. For many who have followed the club through thick and thin, it looked like a serious step toward solid membership of the game's elite group, a tiny red-carpet sector encompassing not more than six or seven giant clubs that are capable of carrying off the Champions League trophy each season.
Beyond traditional giants Barcelona, Real and Bayern, there is only really the moneyed English (Chelsea), the traditional fighters above their weight (Atletico, Dortmund) and the arrivistes (City and PSG). Up to now, many would have argued quiet strongly for the exclusion of City from this tiny elite and they would have had every right to do so.
Something important has changed, though, and it must be acknowledged: In their last two games, City have laid two major ghosts to rest.
First, that they fail to perform consistently well against top Premier League opposition. This was a theory partly drawn up by those looking at results rather than performance, but had some basis in truth.
Although under Manuel Pellegrini, City's attacking efforts had brought six-goal hauls against Tottenham and Arsenal, plus another five at Tottenham's White Hart Lane, the feeling persisted that City did not get enough points off fellow top-six rivals. Last season's home games with Chelsea and Tottenham, neither of which were won despite City being clearly the better side, seemed to underline this malaise.
Despite a semifinal appearance at the Bernabeu -- again under Pellegrini -- in 2015, the European adventure has too often tailed off in embarrassment as soon as a strong side has appeared on the horizon. One can forgive the two eliminations to Barcelona at the round-of-16 stage, but last season's goal avalanche against Monaco, when a five-goal first leg still failed to suffice, wreaked of wobbly capitulation.
Many showed frustration at Pep Guardiola's first season as a manager without reward, claiming City to be the one club capable of ruining the world's best manager. But Guardiola and City have regrouped after that difficult first year. Personnel has been spruced up, the old guard thanked and sent on their way and a new breed of hungry, skilful, precocious talent replacing them.
As City's players strode out at De Kuip, many experts were expecting a close-fought game. City, however, were having none of that, taking such an early grip on proceedings that the home side seemed paralysed, like a mouse confronted with the mesmerising form of a cobra. City have rarely had this effect on any of their European foes during the last seven seasons of huffing and puffing.
But this is a club evolving rapidly again. After an initial growth spurt under Roberto Mancini and in the first year of the Chilean's control, things had stalled significantly. Two more years of Pellegrini and year one of Pep had failed to reignite things.
The fire, however, is now well and truly re-lit. The last two matches have illustrated that perfectly. Not only do City have the look of a well-organised, hungry and ultra-talented squad about them, they have the look of cold-blooded killers that will put fear into each opponent. This side is no longer a soft touch, likely to be rolled over embarrassingly at places like Goodison Park and The King Power Stadium.
In Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero, they possess a forward line that will overpower many. In Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker, they have energy and power coming down both flanks.
And, incredibly, at the back they have two-goal hero John Stones, perhaps at last growing into the player that both Everton and City fans were convinced would be the mainstay of the England back line for years to come. Add to that little lot a goalkeeper of bravery and solidity and there are reasons to believe City are, at last, set to make the next step forward.