It's now that things get interesting for managers across Europe.
Claudio Ranieri will also be hoping that Radamel Falcao is true to his word, the 50m euros striker insisting he's happy in the Principality, that's despite a curious three-week absence due to a supposed thigh strain, then missing a penalty on his return.
Falcao will represent Colombia in Brazil as long as he avoids injury, but surely he'll want to play himself into some form before then.
Award for best comeback team of the season so far has to be Bordeaux. Having been in the relegation zone in late September, they've now suffered just a single defeat in 14 games, with Nicolas Maurice-Belay and Jussie shouldering the goalscoring burden.
It's proof that if you give a manager, in this case Francois Gillot, time to turn things around, it's often better to stick than twist.
There were, however, two managerial casualties in the month before Christmas, Elie Baup paying the price for Marseille's topsy-turvy league campaign and a pointless one in the Champions League.
Jose Anigo is the controversial figure now in charge at the Stade Velodrome, while former boss Rolland Courbis has retaken the reigns at Montpellier after Jean Fernandez resigned. The southerners were champions in 2012, but their main aim two seasons on is simply to avoid relegation.
Germany
Bayern Munich are the one team in Europe who have already won non-Super Cup silverware this season, triumphing at the Club World Cup without conceding a goal, and surely the Bundesliga title will follow.
Quite simply, it's theirs to lose. Bayern are seven points clear with a game in hand, and Pep Guardiola knows a decent month off should give his charges plenty of time to recharge batteries.
Franck Ribery might just be about to pick up a gong of his own too, with the Ballon D'Or decided in January.
Twelve points is the gap from Bayern to Borussia Dortmund who have endured rather than enjoyed their season so far, sinking to fourth.
Offensively, there have been no problems - Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus and Henrik Mkhitaryan all influential and impressive at different times, but it's at the back where they've had rotten luck.
Neven Subotic, Mats Hummels and Marcel Schmelzer were all injured in quick succession, the latter two on international duty, and Subotic won't return to action until next season.
That inevitably contributed to Dortmund going winless in the Bundesliga in December, and being overtaken by both Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
But Leverkusen suffered a Champions League hangover - having made the last 16, they then lost to Eintracht Frankfurt at home and Werder Bremen away. Gladbach drew at Mainz and then against Wolfsburg, and there was only one team who benefitted from all those results: Bayern.
The only fly in the ointment for Guardiola is the English threat in Europe - Manchester City have already beaten them at the Allianz, and they face Arsenal in the last 16 who also managed that feat last campaign.
But should they prevail, he has a fighting chance of bettering Jupp Heynckes triple trophy haul from 2012-13, and making Bayern the first team to successfully defend the Champions League.
Italy
The biggest surprise involving Italian teams was Juventus' failure to reach the Champions League knockout stages, but since then they have taken it out on all who have crossed their path, putting four past Sassuolo and Atalanta in Serie A, and three past Avelino in the Coppa Italia.
Domestically, Antonio Conte's team are unmatchable - Carlos Tevez and latterly Fernando Llorente have propelled them to 10 straight wins. They sit five points clear in the league, with a chance to make that eight as Roma visit in the first game of the New Year.
Atalanta were the team to breach Juve's defence for the first time in 735 minutes in Serie A, and that will be Roma's biggest challenge. But Mattia Destro could be the man to prise them open again.
The U21 international has scored three in three since his return from injury, and a chance to represent Italy's senior squad next summer will serve as further incentive.
Napoli's drop into the Europa League may prompt them to throw all their eggs into their league basket, but ten points is a big deficit to make up to Conte and co. Still, Rafa Benitez has refused to give up the fight for the Scudetto just yet, so expect a few signings in January, especially from France and England.
Defeat in the derby capped a miserable second half of 2013 for AC Milan, who sit an incredible 27 points off the lead in 13th place, but just five points above the relegation zone.
Mario Balotelli is one of the reasons the situation isn't even worse than it already is, but there have already been noises that he may depart the San Siro less than a year after his arrival. And with Stephan El Shaarawy out for two months after foot surgery, Keisuke Honda is a welcome attacking option after joining from CSKA Moscow.
Across Europe, the picture should sharpen quickly in the next month or so, especially as players are signed and sold, and teams go again on domestic and continental fronts.
It really is survival of the fittest - the winter is no place for those with a weak squad or mentality, because they will get found out.
