As Barcelona fans celebrated their second successive Spanish championship on Wednesday, they were giving much of the credit for getting this title to their Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.
Even more than the goal scoring machine Samuel Eto'o, who found the net 25 times after Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo, or their inspirational captain Carles Puyol, it has been Ronaldinho who has returned Barcelona to heights the club scaled in the early 1990s.
A bewilderingly skilful player with the ball at his feet, whom many have compared to the recently-deceased George Best, he was the driving force behind Barca's 14-game winning streak in the middle of the season which was instrumental in them winning La Liga again.
Ronaldinho is usually modest when it comes to assessing his own brilliance.
"I have always loved playing football. For me it's a pleasure not a job. But I couldn't achieve the things I have done without the other players in the Barcelona team," said the ever-smiling Ronaldinho, whose joy is evident to all.
His teammates are more effusive about his ability.
"He's a genius who does the most unbelievable things with the ball day in, day out," said his team mate Eto'o recently.
It was his day in, day out work for Barcelona that got him elected as the FIFA World Player of the Year for the second successive year in December.
His football feats this season, on both a domestic stage and also in the Champions League, have been seen on TV screens around the world and regularly filled Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium to its 98,000 capacity.
However, the defining moment of this campaign was arguably when Barcelona beat bitter rivals Real Madrid 3-0 in their own Santiago Bernabeu stadium in November.
Ronaldinho's runs down the left flank tormented the Real defenders that night but brought the usually hostile home crowd to its feet, applauding his every touch.
In a Brazilian jersey, he did win FIFA's largely ignored Confederations Cup last summer but it was largely for his performances for Barcelona that won the votes of the national coaches and team captains around the world.
His performances for Barca since the start of the year has made him an early favourite for an unprecedented third successive World Player of the Year award.
"The Brazilian has got people used to seeing things they have never seen before, skills they could never have imagined they ever contemplated and
can't understand," said the respected British magazine World Soccer in January.
There is perhaps only one small facet which is holding Ronaldinho back from being the complete player.
"Ronaldinho plays very well but he does not possess the essential team mentality, " commented another Brazilian legend Pele recently, mildly criticising Ronaldinho's lack-of-enthusiasm for helping out his own defenders.
This season he has improved this aspect of his game but his reluctance to return to his own half is still apparent in many games.
Nevertheless, he can now relax for two weeks and let others do the hard work.
Barca's next big date with destiny is against Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 17 in Paris, a city he knows well from his two years at Paris Saint-Germain, where he played before joining Barcelona in 2003.
"The club has a duty to its fans to win the Champions League. We are one of the historical 'greats' of world football. We are something special and the fans are looking to us players to make up for some disappointing seasons," said Ronaldinho.
However, there have been few disappointments since Ronaldinho arrived in Barcelona, especially this season.