It was a season to forget for Real Madrid. Despite having a squad full of big names, the 2008-09 campaign was a total failure as they finished well behind Barcelona to surrender their La Liga crown, and crashed out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey embarrassingly early.
There was, however, something about that diabolical year that gives it a special place in the annals of football history, as it involved one of the most baffling transfers in modern history.
When the kings of Europe put in a call to sign West Ham's unspectacular full-back Julien Faubert, both his agent and the player himself suspected they were on the wrong end of some bizarre prank. Imagine, then, the reactions of football fans around the continent when the one-time France international was unveiled as a new addition at Santiago Bernabeu.
What followed was not a simple flop signing. It was a mystifying and humorous debacle that included accidentally skipped training sessions and supposedly falling asleep on the bench, bringing something memorable to an otherwise empty season in Madrid.