But all this stuff as a guy who watched this so-called golden era is a bunch of revisionist bullshyt. Example Zidane didn't do nothing at Madrid once Del Bosque left, he had zero motivation fof all the crappy politics, but when he decided to turn on the magic he would, ala 2006 WC after 3 mediocre years at Madrid.
So when people talk about eras it's just weird.
The best passer of a footballer that time was none of these so-called legends like Xavi, it was the Portuguese maestro Rui Costa.
His genius is summed un in one play in 2003 vs Real Madrid a massive massive game at the San Siro.
Other immensely celebrated and loved players were Henriik Larsson who came off the bench in the 2006 CL Final in Paris and did what Deco and Xavi could not do all game, unlock the Arsenal defence.
Juventus is and was the most electrifying team to watch play football followed and tied the art that was AC Milan from.
There's no such thing as the dominance of this and that player coz Samuel Etoo won Barcelona the 2006 and 2009 Finals in Paris and Rome but in revisionist history it was Messi.
I simply do not subscribe to the notion that because capitalistic greed, mass marketing and overall media hype etc have created pathetic ethic in football that has lead to a demise in not only the quality of footballers, the standard of coaching, the atmosphere in the stadiums, the overall discussions and culture etc that doesn't necessarily make the mid 2000s a golden era. That era is simply how football is and should be.
Something i would greatly caution Americans from is equating 80s Celtics /Lakers, 90s Pistons, Bulls, Knicks etc NBA
with football. And using all those American talking points like "eras of dominance"... The CL is just too damn hard and you need to much luck for you to start talking about "dominance" Madrid required extra time twice, and a penalty shootout to win 2 (both against Atletico). Barca 2009 Iniesta miracle with "That Norwegian Ref" was tons of luck, no dominance at all in that semi vs Chelsea, we all know the 2005 Milan choke and the 2006 AC Milan 2nd leg game where Shevchenko's goal and away goal was called offside, there was no team "dominating" world class teams were battling it out to death and after 5 years some had 1 CL title, others had 2,others had 0,others had treble seasons but i do not remember any team being dominant.
Football is a soooooooooo big and deeply entrenched and the talent pool was always always real deep. There's really no eras if you watched back then. Even Madrid were lucky as hell in 1998,more a Juve choke.
I wish i could explain it better but certainly don't use American sports mentality coz that's one of the biggest problem in football now.
8-2 kind of drubbing to officially crush the United buildings 
