The Champions League game between Bayern Munich and Juventus on Wednesday may ultimately prove to be one of the defining moments of Louis van Gaal's career.
It's a bold statement to make considering that the notoriously authoritarian and rather taciturn 58-year-old Dutch coach, who took over at the German giants at the start of July, guided Ajax to the 1995 Champions League title.
Also on his CV is a myriad of other honours with Barcelona and, most recently, current Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar.
However, his new club's less-than-impressive start to the season means that the four-time Kaisers of Europe languish down in seventh place in the Bundesliga and the spotlight is shining firmly on Van Gaal.
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Good times have been fleeting if you are an Atletico Madrid fan in the last decade or so, but now is a really a bad time even by their own beleaguered standards.
Without a single win to their name since the start of the season, Atletico now lie second from bottom in La Liga.
A torrid 0-0 draw against Cypriot minnows and supposed whipping boys APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League last Tuesday, with the fans howling their discontent at Atletico's seemingly disinterested players, was just a prelude to the dismal 5-2 drubbing by Barcelona on Saturday.
The headlines on Sunday were as merciless as the Catalan club had been on the pitch the night before.
"The champions abused Atletico," commented ABC cruelly. "Barca played, Atletico were the toys," added another newspaper.
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The undoubted eye-catcher of the opening round of the Champions League group stages is Barcelona's visit to Inter Milan.
With a cast of stars of the world game and characters like Jose Mourinho basking in the limelight, it's a game that has, as the Spanish would say, plenty of morbo about it.
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You might have thought that with Spain poised to book their ticket to South Africa on Wednesday - if they win against Estonia at home and Bosnia fail to beat Turkey - that the excitement would be reaching fever pitch.
After all, Spain is not a country usually noted for its stoic sensibilities where such matters as qualifying for the World Cup are concerned.
However, you would be wrong. Completely wrong.
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Hi, I'm Phil Minshull. I've lived in Spain since 1997 and covered Spanish football since the first day I got here. My blog aims to provide some insight into what's happening in La Liga, and there is much more to it than only Real and Barcelona, as well as elsewhere around Europe.
