End of an era
There was a time when it would have appeared impossible to imagine La Liga without Real Madrid's 'BBC'. The attacking trident brought fear to numerous defences, but it seems their end has also already arrived.
Real Madrid lined up in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash against Bayern Munich without Gareth Bale or Karim Benzema in the starting XI - a system that would have seemed impossible just over a year ago.
Not even when things were going against them at the Allianz Arena did head coach Zinedine Zidane turn to his former deadly trio. Instead, it was Marco Asensio who was the super sub, scoring the winning goal to give Madrid a slim advantage to take back to Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be the only player still of use, after having reinvented himself again this year - finding the back of the net 28 times for club and country since the turn of the new year.
On the other hand, Benzema and Bale are struggling, especially in the face of Asensio and Lucas Vazquez's ascendancy.
The French striker was, at least, brought on against Bayern but his drought in front of goal continued, one which has seen him score just nine goals in 40 appearances. Although the ten assists do help.
Bale, however, was an unused substitute, fuelling more speculation of his departure at the end of the season. The Welshman's numbers are better than his teammates though: scoring 14 goals and providing eight assists from seven less appearances.
Nonetheless, despite the two's best efforts, it seems that there is a changing of the guard at the Bernabeu. One which could be even more permanent after the summer transfer window...