It was almost symbolic that the major trophies that usually take pride of place inside UEFA’s House of European Football were missing.
The glass presentation cases, proudly perched at reception in front of the huge windows offering a stunning vista over Lake Geneva at HQ, stood empty, with the recently-acquired silverware currently on tour elsewhere.
Meanwhile, in a wood-panelled meeting room directly downstairs in this luxurious, lakeside lair, Crystal Palace powerbrokers were attempting to stop their continental dream from vanishing.
Ahead of this Swiss summit, revealed on Monday by Mail Sport, Palace insiders were confident that their majority shareholder’s ownership of Lyon would not stop them from participating in this season’s Europa League for a historic first time under competition rules following their stunning FA Cup triumph.