Real Madrid welcome Atletico Madrid for the first leg of their Champions league semi-final on Tuesday hoping to do something that has been beyond the reigning 11-time European champions for six decades.
Alfredo Di Stefano — not Cristiano Ronaldo — was Madrid's star man the last time los Blancos won la liga and Europe's top club prize in the same season.
The eight times Real have been crowned champions of Europe since they have always done so happy to sacrifice la liga for the tournament they see as defining their role as the biggest and best club in the world.
This season the lure of becoming the first side to successfully defend the Champions league has edged out that of ending Barcelona's dominance of la liga.
That has been evidenced by coach Zinedine Zidane's line- ups for a string of recent liga games sandwiched between big European ties. None of Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, luka Modric or Toni Kroos started any of Madrid's last three away games.
In their absence the likes of Isco, Alvaro Morata and Marco Asensio have shone and Madrid won all three games, scoring 13 times in the process.
Real have already played 53 games this season, yet they remain on course for the most successful season in the club's storied recent history thanks to the depth of their resources.
ONE-SEASON lUXURYIJ
Which has thrown up a new dilemma: the performances of Madrid's youngsters have left question marks over whether a few star names deserve their place in the team for Tuesday's semi-final.
Real smashed Deportivo la Coruna 6-2 on Wednesday with a team containing nine changes from the side that lost El Clasico to Barcelona days previously.
Yet they laboured to beat Valencia 2-1 thanks to Marcelo's late strike when Zidane resorted to largely his preferred XI on Saturday.
Bale's absence through injury means that one of Isco or Asensio are likely to finally start one of Real's biggest games of the season this week.
However, even for Real Madrid, a squad of this size and talent may be a one-season luxury. Isco, Morata and James Rodriguez have all been heavily linked with moves away from the Bernabeu in the summer due to their lack of game time.
MADRID HAVE AN EDGE
Atletico Madrid might not be able to rely on its mighty defense when it makes another run for the Cl title. Atletico's backline has been depleted because of a series of injuries and coach Diego Simeone will have to improvise when his team takes on Real Madrid's powerful attack.
Gimenez was the latest player to go down with an injury.
Gimenez is a central defender but was playing as a right back to replace Torres, who was out with a hamstring ailment. Torres' immediate substitute at right back is Sime Vrsaljko, but he has been sidelined because of a left knee injury and is not expected to be back in time for the first leg, even though he has already returned to training.
Without any right back available, Simeone could use his other central defender, Sefan Savic, to play in the position. That would mean adding youngster lucas Hernandez to the middle of the defense to replace Savic, who has played as a right back with Montenegro's national team. That would break up the solid duo of Savic and Diego Godin, who have started most matches in central defense.
The coach may also improvise by playing midfielder such as Saul Niguez or Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion on the right side, where Madrid is expected to do most of its attacking with Ronaldo and left back Marcelo.
Atletico's defense struggled early this season when Simeone tried different formations in an attempt to make the team more attack-minded, but the changes led to more goals being conceded and a loss of valuable points early on in the Spanish league. The coach found the right balance again entering the decisive stretch, keeping the team unbeaten in 11 games and conceding only four goals in its last 12 matches in all competitions.