Real Madrid v Monaco: Hysteria must surely shock David Beckham no longer. Almost a decade of personal adulation, allied to life in the Old Trafford goldfish bowl, must have made him weary and wary of football's self-indulgence.
But here Beckham is again literally in the middle of a mini-crisis at Real Madrid.
The cause? Two consecutive Madrid defeats, in the Spanish Cup final last Wednesday and in La Liga on Saturday. El Mundo, not a sports paper, deemed this run of losses worth an editorial on Monday: La Crisis Del Real Madrid.
It has upped the pressure on Real as they host Monaco tonight in the first leg to see who meets Arsenal or Chelsea in the semi-final.
"We lost two games," said Luis Figo yesterday, trying to get a sense of perspective. "And in each we went down fighting."
In both games, as he has done all season, Beckham played in central midfield. Real still head La Liga, but a nine-point lead has been cut to one over the last month. The acclaim he received over his first six months in Spain has shrunk by similar dimensions.
"At first Beckham played football and ran," said the sports daily Marca. "Then he ran and played football. After that he just ran. Yesterday he didn't play football or run."
Gradually Real's policy of annually signing superstars and jettisoning supposed water-carriers such as Ivan Campo, Claude Makelele and Steve McManaman has risen up the agenda. Beckham remains popular because of his energy and good nature, but so was McManaman, whose loss has been mentioned recently by Real's captain Raul.
Remarkably, there is genuine anxiety that Monaco, managed by the most famous water-carrier of them all, Didier Deschamps, could end the dream of a 10th European Cup. If that happened, Carlos Queiroz may not be coach much longer.
Though Ronaldo is back from injury tonight, Roberto Carlos is suspended and Raul Bravo, who played five times for Leeds last season - four of them defeats - will be expected to limit a Real player farmed out on loan, Fernando Morientes.
A football law, that a returning player always scores, is a big concern. What makes it worse is that Morientes is a Bernabeu favourite, so beloved of Raul that he wore a Morientes jersey under his own after his fellow striker was loaned out last August.
Morientes has scored five Champions League goals since. The hysteria in Madrid would be justified if Monaco win and Morientes strikes again.
Guardian Service
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
REAL MADRID: Casillas, Salgado, Helguera, Mejia or Pavon, Bravo; Figo, Beckham, Guti, Zidane, Raul or Solari, Ronaldo.
MONACO: Roma; Evra, Rodriguez, Squillaci or Givet, Ibarra or Givet; Bernardi or Cisse, Zikos, Rothen, Giuly; Prso, Morientes
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia)
