Newcastle United's boardroom could not have offered two more contrasting scenes at half-time of what had already been dubbed a "Champions League decider" by journalists.
In one corner stood Tottenham Hotspur's under fire supremo Daniel Levy, seething after his side found themselves 5-0 down in 21 minutes, in the other stood Newcastle's co-owners who were probably pinching themselves with their side in such a commanding position. This wasn't just a brilliant tactical job from Eddie Howe and the coaching staff, this was fantasy football - only Newcastle have not powered their club up and went wild on transfer fees.
That was Levy's fear when the Saudi-backed Newcastle takeover came on the horizon in 2020. That Newcastle would blow teams like Spurs out of the water with a huge transfer kitty.
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Only, Newcastle haven't gone about their business in that manner, not a bit of it, they find themselves six points clear of Tottenham by making considered decisions and making careful judgement on who patrols the technical area. That is another polar opposite to Spurs.
It's hard to have any sympathy in their quest for glory when they sack a serial trophy winner in Jose Mourinho just six days before a Carabao Cup final. And this season they ditched Antonio Conte on the back of a rant in which everything he said has pretty much came true.
But those are Tottenham's problems, any complaints over Newcastle's spending habits are unfounded. Yes Eddie Howe has spent some money on stars like Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon to name three.
However, he has also worked tirelessly on the training pitch with players he inherited. Fabian Schar, Joelinton, Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy were all key figures in the 6-1 beating of Spurs.
All of them are arguably better players under Howe and that is a testament to the work and care on the training field at Benton. Throwing aside the clutch of signings made by the new owners were long overdue on Tyneside anyway, it was always going to take a decent spending pot to turn Newcastle from relegation battlers to Champions League contenders in the space of a season.
But that's what Howe and Newcastle have done in the space of 18 months. The feeling in the boardroom is understood to be that the Magpies have reached the stage of Champions League contenders "a year early".
Just last season the fear was of going down and having to rebuild in the Championship after a long slog to actually buy the club. The only cause for concern this season is that Newcastle will need a much bulkier squad if they end up in the Europa League or Europa Conference League.
A quick glance at West Ham's struggles this season shows the strain that the Europa Conference League throws up. And longer-serving Toon employees need no reminding of 2013 when the run to the Europa League coincided with a near brush with relegation with survival only secured on the penultimate day of the season at QPR.
That experience drained not only a squad that was supplemented with bargain buys from around Europe and Academy kids, but it is also took a lot out of Alan Pardew who'd won manager of the year just 12 months earlier. That's what European competition can do if planning isn't good.
Of course, worrying over which European competition you are going to be in is a nice problem to have. But Newcastle are so close to the Champions League right now.
The Champions League instantly raising the club's profile, boosts the coffers and makes for an easier schedule next season. Getting back from games earlier in the week frees up extra training sessions for Premier League matches the following weekend.
Howe was quick to play those concerns down on Friday because he's locked into the top four battle ahead of him. But fans needn't worry anyway, Howe has got pretty much all of the big calls right in the Newcastle hotseat.
They have managed to achieve a lot this season, not only the best results since Kevin Keegan or Sir Bobby Robson, but also - and more importantly - the style of football they have produced strikes a chord with the Geordie public. Keegan once famously said of the fans: "When they've worked all week, for them the match is a bit like people down south going to the theatre. "They want to see something that's worth seeing."
Well, Howe and his coaching staff have managed to build the Theatre that Keegan strived for second time around. Howe has transformed St James' Park from the Theatre of Screams to our very own black and white Theatre of Dreams - and in no time at all.
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