Even if Leeds sign Che Adams on Monday they will lose other games this season. Elland Road will be like this again before May: the players hurt, physically and emotionally; fans leaving, clouds gathering.
Leeds United proved against Arsenal that they won't enter the Premier League with failure on their mind. Now they just have to get there.
We can't measure Leeds United's resolve, but we could sense it on New Year's Day.
To witness history is a good thing, but tell that to the witnesses of the Hindenburg disaster, or the witnesses of Birmingham City versus Leeds United at the end of the year of our lord 2019.
As if pricked by their own spinning wheel, Leeds fell asleep against Cardiff, but by the end of this game they were their beautiful selves again.
This season is Leeds United's big chance. If they can't be lucky, we have to hope it's enough to be this good.
I made a note halfway through the second half of this match, when the score was 3-1 to Leeds, that it was a bit like watching Don Revie's Leeds toying with Cardiff City, not Marcelo Bielsa's.
The desperation to succeed that took Leeds through last Christmas has gone, replaced by a fraught excitement that is making 2020 almost too painful to think about.
Another efficient Leeds victory, words we didn't expect to be using just a couple of months ago.