A clash between Athletic and Granada in LaLiga staged at San Mamés at this time of the year would have passed off inadvertently as just another game.

The fixture to mark Sergio Ramos’ national record of 168 caps for Spain against Norway was little more than that in the end

A steady game, neither fast nor slow, a kind of ‘allegro ma non tropo’ in contrast to the moderately slow ‘andante’ of those happy years of Xavi, Iniesta and co.