Julen Lopetegui said it was the happiest day of his life being named coach of Real Madrid but he could not have imagined this.
Four and a half months, 138 days, nine La Liga games. One defeat at Camp Nou on Sunday and that might well be that.
If Florentino Perez's mind is already made up, the result against Barcelona may not matter. A draw, or even a Madrid win, is not beyond the realm of possibility.
After all, this game rarely has much respect for form and Lionel Messi is injured.
"It's a great game for us in this moment because we have no choice but to stand up," Toni Kroos told AFP this week.
"We have to show how good we are against a difficult opponent and I think we can do it."
- Confident of revival -
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"We are creating, we are doing everything we can to get good results and that proves we are behind the coach. He is a very good coach in my opinion and I'm confident we can turn this around with him."
"Madrid will be even more dangerous," Valverde said on Wednesday. "They will come here to demonstrate all the strength they have."
Fixtures (times GMT)
Friday
Real Valladolid v Espanyol (1900)
Saturday