There was a time when the Premier League was a head-to-head competition between Manchester United and Arsenal.
Between 1996 and 2004, no other team won the title. It was Sir Alex Ferguson versus Arsene Wenger pretty much every season, excusing runner-up finishes from Newcastle United (1996 and 1997), Liverpool (2002) and Chelsea (2004).
But then Roman Abramovich invested in Chelsea and, shortly after, Sheikh Mansour took over at Manchester City. And England’s top flight hasn’t been the same since.
Chelsea are cruising to their fifth title since 2005 and City were crowned champions for the first time in 44 years in 2012.
The Abu Dhabi Group completed their takeover of the Citizens in September 2008 and didn’t waste any time in splashing the cash, paying £32.5 million for Robinho.
Man City fans won’t like to remember the time before the money; when the Manchester rivalry was one-sided and they regularly finished mid-table.
Middlesbrough 8-1 Man City
No moment sums up how much City craved Mansour’s investment than their 8-1 defeat to Middlesbrough in May 2008.
City, managed by Sven-Goran Eriksson, had Richard Dunne sent off in the 15th minute and watch Afonso Alves tear them apart with a hat-trick. It was an embarrassment.
GiveMeSport has a look at City’s starting XI from that match. It was, quite frankly, terrible.
GK | Andreas Isaksson | Djurgarden
RB | Sun Jihai | Retired
CB | Vedran Corluka | Lokomotiv Moscow
CB | Richard Dunne | Retired (BT Sport pundit)
LB | Michael Ball | Retired
RM | Stephen Ireland | Stoke City
CM | Gelson Fernandes | Stade Rennais
CM | Martin Petrov | Retired
LM | Javier Garrido | AEK Larnaca
ST | Darius Vassell | Retired
ST | Benjani | Retired
Remembering a time when Benjani led the line should leave every City fan extremely grateful for Sergio Aguero.
Match highlights
Watch highlights from City’s 8-1 humiliation below.
'Embarrassing for everyone'
After the game, Eriksson, who now manages Shenzhen FC in China, spoke of his embarrassment.
"It is difficult to take whenever you lose,” the Swede said, via BBC Sport. “But, when you lose like this, it is awful.
"To concede a penalty and have Richard Dunne sent off was a bad start but we were in the game until it was 3-0.
"After that, mentally we had nothing left. We were not even on the pitch - the team had totally gone and it was embarrassing for everyone."