Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare admits the club should still be pinching themselves as the Foxes target a first Champions League semi-final appearance - exactly eight years after winning League One.
The Foxes will aim to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host Atletico Madrid in tonight's quarter-final second leg.
On April 18, 2009, Leicester beat Southend 2-0 to win the League One title thanks to a Matty Fryatt double and now stand on the brink of the Champions League's final four.
Shakespeare was assistant to Nigel Pearson when the Foxes went up and conceded their rise has been the stuff of dreams.
He said: "The focus just has to be on that game, you can look ahead and look back but you have to focus on the here and now.
"Where the club has come from is remarkable and if you had said last year 'you'd win the Premier League and this year be in the quarter-finals and with a chance to be in the semi-finals' everyone would have been pinching themselves."
Leicester lost at the Vicente Calderon last week after referee Jonas Eriksson awarded a controversial penalty after Antoine Griezmann was fouled by Marc Albrighton outside of the area.
Griezmann scored the spot-kick and Shakespeare said last week the referee made a mistake but insisted he has moved on.
"No it's not gnawing away, the referee gave his decision and the last thing the club and players need is me harping on about it," he said.
"We have to get on with it. The referee made his decision - although it's there for everyone to see it's the wrong one. We have to make sure we're ready and focused for the game."
Last season's shock Premier League champions have won all four home matches in the Champions League, scoring six goals and conceding just one.
They are underdogs against Atletico but should welcome back captain Wes Morgan after he missed the last six games with a back injury.
And fellow defender Christian Fuchs believes the Foxes can thrive with their critics banking on them crumbling.
"That's what everyone is expecting from us anyway, what they expected last season. We have such a great team spirit we don't let it affect us," he said.
"We just enjoy the time we have. We might never be here again. We might be at some point again, but right now it is simply this one game that we have and we try to give everything to be successful."
Atletico are favourites but boss Diego Simeone has warned his side not to relax.
He added: "Leicester are in decent form and have been very close to getting back to their best in the last six or seven games.
"Our characteristics are very similar, we are not too different in the way we play. It'll be a very tight game, the first leg was a narrow result and Tuesday will be no different. It will be decided on the smallest of details."
Meanwhile, Real Madrid know the return of Robert Lewandowski to the Bayern Munich side will make what looks on paper a straightforward last-16 task a whole lot more complicated.
Madrid go into the second leg of their quarter-final at the Bernabeu tonight boasting a 2-1 lead from the away leg, leaving the Germans with a mountain to climb in the Spanish capital.
The visitors need to score at least twice to progress and, given no team has been able to stop Madrid from scoring this season and the fact Zinedine Zidane's men are averaging almost three goals a game this term, in all likelihood more than that.
But the return of striker Lewandowski from the shoulder injury that ruled him out of the Allianz Arena clash makes such a scenario eminently possible.
Madrid themselves will be without Gareth Bale with a calf problem picked up in the first leg, which has also made him a doubt for Sunday's heavyweight LaLiga clash with Barcelona, but the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo means he will be nothing like the loss Lewandowski was for Bayern in Munich.
Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti confirmed the Poland striker, who has 15 goals in his last 11 club games, would play, telling a press conference: "Lewandowski is okay. He has trained with the team. That will help us. He is a super player. The fact he is playing gives us more confidence."
Madrid coach Zidane is also a fan and said: "Lewandowski is a real number nine and a bonus for Bayern."
He added: "Bayern have a great team in all departments so we have to be focused on what we have to do. We know that they have a lot of ways to cause problems for their opponents and they also have flaws."
The fact is, though, that Lewandowski is key for Bayern, more so than even Ronaldo, whose two first-leg goals turned that game in Madrid's favour, is for the hosts.
He provides a focal point and cutting edge that Bayern lack without him. He did not play at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. His side drew 0-0.
"He is the killer in front of goal we have been missing," Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said on the club website.
For Madrid the match comes five days before a Clasico which could go a long way to deciding the outcome of the title race, with the capital club boasting a three-point lead over Barca, with a game in hand.
But Zidane urged his team to first spare no effort in attempting to seal their last-four spot in Europe.
"We have to have a great game and be very strong," he said. "We will go out to win the game and we'll not gamble.
"The first leg has already been played and we know the problems Bayern will create, they'll make it difficult until the referee blows for full time. We're going to have to play really well. We must do everything we can to win the game."
Bale has had an injury-troubled season and will not be risked against Bayern, a muscle injury now having struck after the injury surgery he had earlier in the campaign.
"He's worked hard to get back with the team and after his injury, three months off, he returned really keen," said Zidane.
"He has some discomfort that is preventing him from being at his best and I hope he'll be back with us soon. He's not going to be with us tomorrow as we don't want to risk him.
"He's keen to return, he's worked hard and deserves to be with us as soon as possible. I hope it'll be in time for El Clasico, but I can't guarantee that. We'll take it day by day."
Despite Lewandowski's return, Bayern have injury concerns of their own at the back. Javi Martinez is suspended following his red card in the first leg and Mats Hummels (ankle) and Jerome Boateng (thigh) face late fitness tests.