When Atletico Madrid won a La Liga and King's Cup double in 1996, hopes were high it would mark the beginning of a golden period for the club known as the "mattress makers".
Those hopes were quickly dashed and Atletico were relegated to the second division in 2000 before returning to the top flight two years later.
As they prepare to play at Almeria in La Liga on Wednesday, it would be premature to suggest a similar fate awaits their latest team under Argentine coach Diego Simeone but a stuttering start to the season suggests they may be hard pressed to repeat last term's stunning successes.
Atletico won their first La Liga title since that 1996 triumph and reached the final of the Champions League, losing 4-1 to city rivals Real Madrid, and promptly sold top scorer Diego Costa and fullback Filipe Luis to Chelsea.
While Costa's replacement up front, Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic, has made a solid but unspectacular start to his stint in the Spanish capital, few are expecting him to match Costa's scoring exploits.
Atletico have drawn two of their opening four La Liga games this season, including Saturday's 2-2 stalemate at home to Celta Vigo, and are trailing early leaders Barcelona, who have won all of their matches and have a perfect 12 points.
They also lost their first Champions League match of the campaign, a 3-2 reverse at Olympiakos Piraeus on Tuesday, and captain Gabi has called for swift improvement.
"We have to keep working because we can't drop points at our own stadium," the midfielder said after the draw with Celta.
"We have to improve and learn from our mistakes. We have a game on Wednesday (against Almeria) to try to win and climb higher in the table."
Barca, who play at Malaga on Wednesday, have yet to concede a goal in their five matches in all competitions and new coach Luis Enrique appears to have fixed the defensive problems that dogged the team last season.
Barca hit five past Levante on Sunday, when, on an eventful night for Lionel Messi, the four-times World Player of the Year netted one goal, missed a penalty and set up Neymar and Sandro Ramirez to score.
Neymar came off early in the second half after hurting an ankle and it is unclear whether he will be available for the trip to Malaga.
THUMPING WIN
After losing their second and third La Liga games, Real returned to winning ways in spectacular style on Saturday when they won 8-2 at promoted Deportivo La Coruna.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit his 24th hat-trick for Real since joining in 2009, one more than Ferenc Puskas and four short of club-record holder Alfredo Di Stefano, and the Portugal forward will be eager for more when Elche visit on Tuesday.
Saturday's thumping win also included two goals for Javier Hernandez, the Mexico striker's first for Real since joining on loan from Manchester United.
Hernandez will mainly act as cover for first-choice centre forward Karim Benzema but said he will be pushing for as much playing time as possible.
"I have never been conformist," Hernandez said after the game at Deportivo.
"If they give me one minute I will want two and then three," he added.
"I will make the most of the time I am on the pitch and show that I want more."
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