When the quarter-final and semi-final draw for the Champions League was done in March, the story is that Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti rang his friends at AC Milan, where he played and managed, and joked that he'd see them in the final in Istanbul.
That now seems a genuine possibility. For a man who has won more Champions League titles as manager than anyone else, that belief came as little surprise.
As it was, there was a sense of inevitability around Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, not least because of Chelsea's woes but for the sheer dominant force of Real Madrid in this competition.