If only there was a bell to ring it in.
For this surely has to be the last “Seconds Out” moment in football’s greatest individual bout of one-upmanship.
Separated by some 600km and a solitary, witching hour on Saturday night, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will make their home debuts for their new clubs.
After an international break, to say they’re eagerly awaited doesn’t begin to cut it: fans are paying fortunes for the privilege of being there.
For both Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Manchester United, they should be routine fixtures: neither Clermont-Foot nor Newcastle United are likely to spoil the respective parties.
But they will be anything but routine.
Tickets have been selling for thousands of pounds; there’s even been a campaign to remove the sacrosanct 3pm (local time) broadcasting blackout in England to allow the wider public to watch.
It failed: removing the monarchy would be easier.
Messi has already played as a 66th minute substitute away at Reims, a city where France consecrated its monarchs for 1,000 years. He was given a royal welcome – a standing ovation from a packed, expectant house.
Ronaldo has only just trained with his new teammates after “earning” a deliberate suspension so he could quarantine in time for this occasion.
But he will be champing at the bit as only he can.
The kick-offs will mark the start of the final chapter in the best head-to-head page-turner the modern game has witnessed.
Within three frantic weeks of each other in August, the two left their existing clubs to continue careers that have somehow been inexorably linked for a decade and a half.
By moving in their mid-thirties (Messi is 34, Ronaldo 36), both chose not to go gentle into that good night.
The circumstances that led to their departures were very different, but both now find themselves with a chance to add even more lustre to their glittering careers.
One more shot at glory. One more rage against the dying of the light.
If they had wound their careers down quietly, it would have been understandable: both have already booked a permanent seat among the game’s gods.
With divine performances and stats that test your arithmetic, they have mesmerised and electrified in equal doses.
But as befits immortals, “going gentle” was not an option; going gentle is for wimps.
That said, the paths chosen are not without risk. Neither destination was first-choice, but just happened and each has its own pitfalls.
PSG have almost perfected the knack of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory – especially in the Champions League.
Expensively assembled teams with the world’s two costliest players, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, they have found ways to lose when it really matters.
Riven by cliques, divided by earnings and egos, they have not always been shoo-ins in their own league. Lille won it last year.
It’s a far cry from the unity of Barcelona’s Catalan core that embraced academy graduate Messi.
But at least he has a friend in Neymar and a clutch of Argentine compatriots including manager Mauricio Pochettino.
And the current “world XI” is the best yet thanks to additions such as Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi and Gini Wijnaldum.
But you fancy they’ll defer to Messi and allow him licence to do his own thing at his venerable age.
The standard of Ligue Un has meant the top players do not always have to exert themselves and can treat some matches as little more than friendlies.
But there is still no guarantee it will be a winning formula against the battle-hardened troops of the EPL when it comes to the Champions League.
With just four Champions League medals (to Ronaldo’s 5), Messi feels he has under-achieved in that competition, and to fail again with such a stellar line-up would be a major disappointment.
There is also the matter of showing he can do the business outside Barcelona. Where Ronaldo has been outstanding in three countries, Messi has been a one-club man.
If he fails to either win a trophy or produce his magic in the French capital, it will not tarnish his legacy but may mean there’s no extra jewel for the crown.
In terms of silverware, though, Ronaldo is under less pressure as even with him in their ranks, United are not expected to win either the EPL crown or the Champions League.
He has already proved his worth on the internet and sparked euphoria among the faithful.
Where the danger lies for CR7 is in him perhaps delaying the evolution of United’s youthful attack.
The likes of Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and even £70m Jadon Sancho must have mixed feelings about his arrival as they may not be playing – and certainly not starting – as much as they would like.
For all the buzz he has created, there remains a sense among purists that he wasn’t really necessary.
They feel that United have enough up front already including one old hand in Edinson Cavani, and that instead of Ronaldo, who has a notable selfish streak, they should have signed a midfielder.
And it wouldn’t be the first time the “final piece of the jig-saw” didn’t fit – he didn’t at Juventus which is why he left.
Still, even for neutrals, the latest battle between him and Messi should be fun while it lasts. It might be for twilight supremacy but it will be keenly fought.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.