There is a whole lot more than mere local bragging rights at stake when Chelsea clash with London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday evening.
In what is the penultimate match of their respective Premier League campaigns, both clubs still have a huge amount riding on the game at Stamford Bridge.
For Chelsea, three points would see them jump two places up to eighth in the table and back in the mix for securing European football next season. Spurs, meanwhile, know that a single point will be enough to stave off the threat of relegation from the top-flight.
While their remaining goals may be very different, both Chelsea and Spurs have experienced turbulent campaigns that could be used as tutorials about how not to run a football club.
For West London side Chelsea, the fall from grace has been stark. Enzo Maresco started the season as manager, on a high after winning both the Uefa Conference League and Fifa Club World Cup.
By January 1, the Italian was gone after a run of one win in seven league games was coupled with a collapse in relations with the club's BluCo ownership.
In came Liam Rosenior, snatched from another BlueCo-owned club in Strasbourg – having helped the French club qualify for Europe for the first time in 19 years in his debut season.
Despite having not yet managed in the Premier League, an “extremely humbled and honoured” Rosenior was given a now Chelsea-trademarked six-and-half-year contract. He was sacked within four months due to a toxic mix of disastrous results and being publicly undermined by senior players.
Caretaker manager Calum McFarlane has been unable to halt the slide with Chelsea now 10th in the table, leaving them with the very real prospect of having no European football next season. For a club of Chelsea's budget and ambition, that is nothing short of humiliation.
There was more misery on Saturday when Chelsea fell to a record fourth FA Cup final defeat in a row when they lost to Manchester City. “It was a 50-50 game in my opinion,” insisted McFarlane on Monday.
“I felt like with all the injuries we've got in our squad, we went toe to toe with Man City and it was an even game … that shows the level of this group, the quality of this group.”
The club's owners have moved quickly to name Rosenior's full-time replacement with former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso taking over from July 1.
“I think everyone at the club is excited,” added McFarlane, who will stay on as part of Alonso's coaching staff. “A great coach, had a really good career so far, won major trophies, great playing career, will have a lot of respect from everyone and it's a really exciting appointment from the club.”
But before the Spaniard's arrival, it will be down to McFarlane to lift a dressing room whose commitment has come under strong criticism. “The players have shown in the last two games that their fight and their heart has been questioned at times," he said. "I think they've shown in the last two games that for me that's not an issue.
“Everyone knows the rivalry between Chelsea and Tottenham, but ultimately both teams have got a lot to play for. So I don't think we're going to have to do anything extra special to motivate the lads.”
Over in North London, there is an other set of players with plenty to prove at a club that has seen three different managers in the dugout this year alone – as well as chairman Daniel Levy exiting last September after 25 years in the role as the Lewis family, who own Spurs, decided time was right for changes on and off the pitch.
Tottenham ended last season by sacking Ange Postecoglou despite the Australian guiding the club to Europa League glory, ending a 17-year wait for a major trophy. He would pay the price for a dreadful domestic campaign that saw them finish 17th after losing 22 of their 38 matches.
His replacement, Thomas Frank, failed to stop that rot. By the time of the Dane's sacking in February, Spurs were just five points above the relegation zone having won just two of their previous 17 league matches.
Then, in a move of baffling self-harm, Spurs turned to Igor Tudor as interim manager – a coach with no experience of English football but with a reputation for firefighting and extracting immediate results from players.
The Croatian lasted 44 days and seven matches – five of which were lost – before it was “mutually agreed” for the Croat to go. The team was now just one point above the bottom three.
Now it was former Brighton and Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi's turn to step into the fray, with seven games to rescue the club from second-tier football for the first time since 1978.
Despite a 1-0 loss to Sunderland in his opening match, the Italian's impact has been immediate with two wins and draws lifting them two points clear of the drop zone, aided by third bottom West Ham's three-game losing streak.
Thanks to a vastly superior goal difference, Spurs need just a draw from their final two games to secure survival, but in his pre-match press conference on Monday, De Zerbi said his team are not in the clear yet.
"In the last four games we made eight points and we could have made more than eight," he said. "We have to be confident and positive. We cannot forget the situation from a month ago. We are not safe yet. We have the quality, we have to show the right mentality.
"It is difficult, it's a tough stadium because the players at Chelsea have been fantastic. Fantastic players and fantastic managers ... It will be a tough game for us for sure."
