In June of this year Liverpool fell to defeat in the UEFA Champions League final to Real Madrid.
Aberdeen remain the last team to defeat Real Madrid in a European final, that came in 1983 in the European Cup Winners' Cup with Alex Ferguson at the helm.
Today it is Jim Goodwin's task to return Aberdeen to past glories, however they have not won the league since 1985 and the cup since 1990.
"It's a hell of a task," said Goodwin speaking on RTÉ Radio One Saturday Sport.
The Dons currently sit in seventh position, eight points behind Celtic who defeated them 2-0 at Celtic Park on the opening day of the season.
"I think we're relatively satisfied with how the season has went.
"I think things are going okay, we're in the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
"That fixture takes place next month against Partick Thistle with the opportunity to get through to a semi-final at Hampden [Park], which would be a great deal for the supporters and for the players."
Ferguson managed to break the Celtic-Rangers stranglehold in the eighties, winning three Scottish League titles, four Scottish Cups and one European Cup Winners Cup.
The chances of that happening again are even more unlikely. Celtic and Rangers have shared the last 36 titles since Aberdeen's last win.
However, the expectation of Aberdeen supporters can sometimes draw from past triumphs.
"We do have a generation of Aberdeen supporters who were around in the in the seventies and eighties when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager, and they were competing on a European scale.
"[They were] winning trophies domestically, quite consistently competing with Celtic and Rangers, winning leagues, winning cups, it's never an excuse, but it is the reality of the situation."
"At the moment that Celtic and Rangers are just so far out in front in terms of the financial side of things. They're playing budget is probably, on average, I would say maybe six, seven times, that of everybody else.
"It is a big, big gulf that we've got to try and make up. To do that, I think you've got to be successful on the pitch, we've got to try and play an entertaining style of football, that's going to bring more supporters back through the gates at Pittodrie.
"I think off the back of that, if you're doing well and you're being successful on the pitch, then there's other commercial avenues that can open up. I think a club like Aberdeen should always be going far in the domestic cup competitions."
Goodwin's playing career began at Celtic before eventually finishing up at Alloa, and that is where he first took his first steps into management, alongside combining several jobs outside of football including one as a chocolate salesman.
After establishing part-time Alloa in the Scottish Championship, the opportunity came to make the step-up to St Mirren in the Scottish top flight after the departure of Oran Kearney.
Goodwin kept the Buddies in mid-table, got them to a Scottish Cup quarter-final and managed to take the scalp of Rangers in the League Cup.
Senior Irish international Jamie McGrath and under-21 international Conor McCarthy were prised from Dundalk and Cork City, another ex-League of Ireland player Dylan Connolly also joined as Goodwin tapped into his knowledge of the Irish market.
"I had some relative success in the market myself bringing Jamie McGrath over to St Mirren from Dundalk, Conor McCarthy came over from Cork City. Jamie went on to earn a number of international caps, we were delighted to be able to help him get to that point.
"I think we kind of opened the door for a lot of clubs over here, then to go and start recruiting in that market."
Today, current senior international men's manager Stephen Kenny will be returning to Hampden Park for the first time since losing the Scottish Cup final with Dunfermline to Celtic in 2007. Goodwin has ambitions of one day managing his country.
"Listen, that's the dream. That's always been the dream and you know, for me as a player, when I was growing up my my dream was always to play for Ireland.
"I think Stephen Kenny has done fantastic in terms of trying to bring those younger lads on. I think the FAI has given them time through some difficult circumstances to to develop those players and bring them up to a level of what you saw in the last Scotland game.
"I thought the performance was brilliant. So hopefully, we get another performance like that.
"The dream for me is to one day lead my country out, and whether it's a European Championships or a World Cup, you know, that will always be the end [goal] for me.
"[I have] a very big job on my hands here at Aberdeen, still very early days.
"For me in terms of my managerial career, I'm only 40 years old, so I've still got a hell of a lot to learn before that opportunity comes along.
"But hopefully one day if I'm doing what I hope to do and what I believe I'm capable of doing and have the success that I hope to have then fingers crossed, if and when that job becomes available. My name will be in the hat and that's all I can hope for."
Follow the Republic of Ireland v Scotland this Saturday (kick-off 7.45pm) via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app, watch live on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player, or listen to national radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
