It may not be quite as majestic as Manchester United's quest to crown 31 years of waiting with the Champions Cup, but the attempt to conquer Europe by Chelsea, who play Real Mallorca away tonight, makes them feel like minor royalty, at least.
No other English team managed to stay in UEFA's club competitions beyond December and although this is the last year of the Cup Winners' Cup before it succumbs to money-orientated reforms, winning it still ranks as an achievement most teams would envy.
Of course Chelsea began in August with higher aims, and filling one of the three Champions League places on offer this season remains a must for a club with so many hungry wage packets to feed.
But for tonight, anyway, the glitter of silverware is arguably more important than the colour of money as Chelsea play for pride and the thought that winning any kind of prize makes the slog of a long season that much more worthwhile.
For those reasons alone, Chelsea will be wary of taking tonight's opponents lightly. Although Real come from a holiday island, Gianluca Vialli's players have been told in no uncertain terms that this is no time to put their feet up.
Such a thought might have been possible against some of the weaker teams that populated the earlier rounds of this under-strength tournament, but the last four has finally sifted out some decent teams in Lazio, Lokomotiv Moscow and Real, who stand sixth in the Spanish League, just two points off second place, and are not about to let anyone kick sand in their face.
The Chelsea squad has already studied videos of their sun-blessed opponents as well as receiving detailed briefs from the scouting staff who followed the tourist trail to watch Real's recent games.
The conclusion is that the Spanish are a small but strong, bargain-basement side without any outstandingly skilful individuals but who make up for that with hard work, tight organisation and a heavy emphasis on counterattack.
Nullifying the danger of those breaks will be particularly important as Chelsea take the initiative in tonight's home leg, which Vialli ideally wants to win without conceding an away goal, thus reducing the chances of a nasty kick in the Balearics.
With only a slight fitness doubt concerning Celestine Babayaro, the player-manager's biggest headache is whether to pick himself up front. At 34 he likes to ration his games, preferring the less hectic pace of European ties, but that would leave Ray Wilkins in control of tactical changes and substitutions in only his second match as stand-in coach for Graham Rix.
Judging by Saturday's 1-0 win at Charlton, which breathed new life into Chelsea's title hopes, Wilkins is settling in seamlessly nonetheless, despite the former QPR and Fulham manager's distinctive terminology.
"The main point we will be making to the boys about Mallorca is that their ball-retention is top quality," he offered yesterday.
The good news for a Chelsea side seeking goals against a well-marshalled defence is the return after his long injury lay-off of Gustavo Poyet. The right-sided midfielder came on as a substitute on Saturday and could start tonight.
Poyet, who has won this competition with Real Zaragoza as well as Chelsea, played in the earlier European rounds this season but the importance of his return should not be underestimated as his 11 goals from midfield still make him the club's second leading scorer, equal with Tore Andre Flo and just one behind Gianfranco Zola.
Trying to prevent Chelsea securing too healthy a lead will be one Carlos Roa, the Argentina goalkeeper who stopped David Batty's penalty in a certain World Cup match last summer.
And in the second leg, Vialli will need to be wary of another bar to the back of the Real net. When Hearts lost to the Spaniards in the first round they discovered that one of the goals at the Real ground was undersized. The Scottish club complained but were told it was the same for both teams. So as well as his trunks and suntan lotion, Ken Bates might also like to pack a tape measure in two weeks' time.
