3 defining moments from Chelsea's dominant season
A worthy winner and, with the exception of a few minor hiccups in the latter of half of campaign, a title that was won months ago.
Following Friday's 1-0 shunning of West Bromwich Albion, Chelsea was officially crowned champion of the 2016-17 Premier League season. It was a campaign which promises to change the tactical landscape of English football for some time - a back-three is certainly in vogue after Antonio Conte's usage - and marks a stark reversal in fortunes for a team that was bereft of confidence and, perhaps, application in the previous term.
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Here are three defining moments in Chelsea's commanding march to the summit of English football:
Late shopping dash
Chelsea's players went their separate ways for the season's first international break having recorded a 3-0 home win over Burnley. It was an encouraging performance due to the supply to the Clarets' frontmen being slammed shut - they were purring after dismantling Liverpool a week earlier - and the signs of improvement from Eden Hazard in Conte's wing-focused 4-2-4 setup.
But the Italian isn't one to rest on his laurels.
The final hours of the summer transfer window saw Chelsea scramble to add two defensive-minded players to the squad, but those additions were widely questioned.
Regularly scapegoated for calamities in his first stint at Chelsea and his part in Brazil's 7-1 thumping from Germany at the 2014 World Cup, David Luiz was remembered as resembling a skulking, board-short-wearing, awkward outcast from an American teen flick. Instead, he's breathed confidence into the heart of the defence, and has been given license to spray passes from the back. At 30, he's matured into one of the most gifted centre-halves in the division.
Then there was the arrival of Marcos Alonso, a versatile player who couldn't find a regular slot in a falling Bolton Wanderers side between 2010 and 2013. He clearly blossomed in the intervening time at Fiorentina, and appeared ready-made for Chelsea when the 3-4-3 was finally deployed. He's been a standout performer for the Blues this term.
With these signings, Chelsea eventually went from leaning on the shoulders of veteran John Terry to charitably letting its captain stick around from January to collect his fifth Premier League winners' medal.
Tactical rethink in north London
It's rare that a title can hinge on one match. It's even more unique that a complete revision of approach and ambition can be pinned down to a 15-minute team talk.
From a half of football that saw Chelsea taken apart by Arsenal via three unanswered goals in late September, Conte decided that a change of tactics was required. Although he lasted the 90 minutes, the sluggish Branislav Ivanovic's career in London was effectively over. Cesc Fabregas, dizzied by Arsenal's midfield, lasted 55 minutes and was subsequently pushed to the periphery.
The 3-0 defeat came a week after the Blues fell 2-1 to Liverpool at home, and BBC Sport's Phil McNulty predicted a tough and potentially fruitless task for Conte to address his side's failings.
"This was, arguably, an even more harrowing experience (than the Liverpool loss) and a stark illustration of the job the Italian must do to revive Chelsea," he wrote.
Instead, the change from a back-four to a back-three provided hints of what was to come. The excellent Alonso made his league debut off the bench, Victor Moses was an unused substitute but was about to embark one of the most unexpected individual comeback stories in years, and Pedro began to work on usurping Willian from the lineup.
Related: 5 reasons Chelsea won the Premier League title
The solid foundations of Chelsea's indomitable charge for the title were laid.
Fabregas proves his worth
N'Golo Kante was a quintessential Conte signing: a modest character off the pitch, but a player of unrelenting work ethic and selflessness. His was an overwhelming and deserved victory for the PFA Player of the Year award and, barring injuries, the Frenchman's selection in the starting XI went untroubled for all of Chelsea's title pursuit.
One potential Achilles' heel in the middle of the park was Nemanja Matic. His passing is fine - out of Chelsea midfielders, only Kante has a better pass success rate than the Serbian - but unadventurous, and he sometimes flounders when his time on the ball is restricted by a high press.
That's why the reintroduction of Fabregas was so important for Conte.
Following the debacle against his former club Arsenal, Fabregas had to wait 70 days for another opportunity on the pitch. It only arose because Matic unexpectedly sat out a trip to Manchester City through injury, but the Spaniard took his chance.
The part he played in Fernandinho's dismissal near the end of December's 3-1 win is his most memorable contribution to the tie, but his long diagonal pass for Diego Costa's 60th-minute equaliser showed that, with City players on his toes, he could still act with composure and creativity. Suddenly, Fabregas was the preferred option ahead of Matic when facing opponents that harry from the front.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)