Just how could England's most famous and successful club Liverpool be bundled out of the FA Cup by second division Barnsley and then just three days later knock off the might of Italian Serie A leaders Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League?
It's a perplexing question and one that sums up the changing nature of European football.
But the answer is quite simple. European football, particularly the gigantic UEFA Champions League, is now the totally dominant competition and overshadows even time-honoured domestic competitions such as the English FA Cup.
That might be hard for some traditionalists to accept but cup football in England is now going the same way as it has in Italy and to a lesser extent Spain for years - very much a poor relation to the weekly battle to win the league and the increasingly huge midweek battles for overall European supremacy.
The big clubs in England that regularly play in the Champions League - Liverpool Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea - very much rate domestic cup competitions such as the FA Cup and the League Cup as distant priorities behind winning the Champions League and, of course, securing the Premier League title.
That approach has never been more apparent than with Liverpool over the past week.
First they fielded a weakened side for Saturday's FA Cup tie at home to Barnsley, wrongly believing that even their second-string side would be able to take care of the battling Yorkshire club.
And who could blame them given that Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea have dominated the two domestic cup competitions in England over the past decade and all while regularly fielding second-string line-ups to ensure their best players are fit and available for what they deem more-important matches.
In a season where the top clubs can play more than 60 matches a season it's a wise strategy but does little for the prestige of the FA Cup, which was first played in 1872 but appears to be struggling to remain relevant in the modern-day world.
When the forerunner to the Champions League - the old European Cup - began in 1956 it was nowhere near the juggernaut it is today and it was only the decision to open the competition up to more clubs in the 1990s that has seen it grow into the money-making monster it is today.
Instead of seeing just the best clubs from countries such as England, Spain, Italy and Germany do battle for European supremacy fans could suddenly see the best four clubs from each of those countries in action which has made for the epic battles we see these days.
And with that has come a huge growth in television revenue, which has enabled those clubs that qualify on a regular basis for the Champions League to become richer and richer at the expense of their rivals.
And because of that they can afford to buy the best players each season, meaning they continue to qualify for the Champions League and just get stronger and stronger.
It's a vicious circle and a monopoly every other club in England - not to mention Italy and Spain where the same clubs also qualify each season - would love to break but find that without the financial resources that come with being in the Champions League it is nearly impossible to do so.
So what is the solution to reviving interest in the domestic cup competitions while not taking away from the prestige of the European competitions?
Perhaps the time has come for the top clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea to be allowed to decide whether or not they wish to participate in the domestic cup competitions, rather than be forced to take part, due to the ever-increasingly crowded football calendar.
And if they don't take part it might finally give other clubs the chance to grab some silverware, remembering no other club outside of the big four has won either the FA Cup or the English Premier League title since 1995.
That would not only bring some excitement back to the domestic cup competitions but ensure those clubs that qualify for the Champions League can focus on the big prize without being criticised for paying scant attention to competitions they deem not worthy of taking seriously.