Now every game feels like a final.

From the desperation stakes for survival at the bottom of the EPL to the loftier aim of boarding Europe’s gravy train.

Whether first class or second, seven clubs are involved at the top end, just five in the basement where football lives are literally at stake.

That said, no one has more riding on the next few weeks than champions Manchester City.

A point ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand, the Abu Dhabi-owned club are bidding to emulate the treble won by neighbours Manchester United in 1999.

Back then, United were playing for glory and that was thought to be all this silly game was about.

The old European Cup was the Holy Grail.

There was money, too, but it was loose change compared to what’s at stake today.

And it’s fair to say that Manchester City are playing for more than even the zillions that will come their way whether successful or not.

They are playing for a concept, for a country: they are playing for the United Arab Emirates and its ambitious plan to punch above its weight in the world through success in sport.

It’s been like this ever since Sheikh Mansour took over the club from Thaksin Shinawatra in 2008, but took football a while to cotton on.

Not that this puts any extra pressure on the players who, like their United predecessors, will be just out to win the top prize – not change the world.

But that’s enough in itself when they’ve got Real Madrid barring their way in what is now the Champions League and, if successful, one of the two Milan teams in the final.

A week before that, they meet United who will be out to deny their once-noisy-but-now-deafening neighbours that piece of equality.

And you wouldn’t put it past them.

Although United have gone off the boil and many of this generation weren’t even born in 1999, they will have imbued enough talk of the rivalry to make life difficult.

Even this weekend promises to be no walk in Stanley Park.

After a gruelling encounter in Madrid, City go to Everton to find a team revitalised by a sensational 5-1 win at Brighton.

That result was the shock of the season and Everton fans will be eager to build on it against the Fancy Dans from Manchester.

The Dogs of War are the last thing Pep Guardiola will want to have snarling at his team in the middle of a titanic two-legged clash with the 14-time European champions.

But Everton are certain to try to rekindle the dogged relentlessness that was the hallmark of their last decent side and earned them their canine nickname.

If Pep had been thinking the Toffees might be a soft touch, Monday will have changed his mind.

Everton suddenly discovered their shooting boots and looked a dangerous side on the counter.

He will be tempted to rest a few key players as he has the luxury of a deep squad.

We could see Phil Foden for Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez for Bernardo Silva and Aymeric Laporte for Ruben Dias.

We might even see World Cup winner Julian Alvarez for Erling Haaland.

That’s the sort of depth that Jurgen Klopp didn’t have last season and which ultimately cost Liverpool their quadruple.

And the sort that only funding from a state-owned club can provide and which, crucially, FSG couldn’t at Liverpool.

City cannot afford to falter at Goodison as Arsenal, who are at home to shell shocked Brighton before playing Forest and Wolves, expect maximum points from now on.

But by far the biggest obstacle to a City treble are those ghostly midweek visitors from Madrid.

Having come from behind to hold the champions in Spain, City are marginal favourites to prevail at the Etihad.

But there was nothing in it at the Bernabeu, where City edged possession but probably carried less threat.

Haaland was effectively muzzled by replacement centreback Antonio Rudiger who may keep his place.

And Real had the explosive shooting and power of Eduardo Camavinga and Auriel Tchouameni to add to that of Vinicius Junior.

Fortunately for City, they have Kevin de Bruyne.

City were more dominant in last year’s semi-final yet contrived to lose with three late goals out of nowhere.

That’s what Real can do to you as they have to others. They are Real Madrid, undisputed kings of European football and have been for almost seven decades.

New generations come and go but Real abideth forever. Well, that’s how it seems.

But Real themselves are worried about the nation-state clubs, especially in the EPL, which is why they set up the Super League (ESL).

City joined too as they didn’t want to get left behind, but when it collapsed, Real were still clinging on, hoping for a rebirth with Barcelona and Juventus.

Real president Florentino Perez’s view is that no one can compete with the sovereign wealth funds and the Super League would at least have corrected the imbalance of EPL domination.

But the ESL is a corpse that is not even twitching and, Paris Saint-Germain excepted, the nation state clubs are looking ominous.

Saudi Arabia-owned Newcastle will be in the UCL next season while Qatar is favourite to add Manchester United to its portfolio.

Perez sees it as a battle between the old guard of the European establishment and the nouveau riche state-owned oil clubs who might just be in a de facto super league of their own.

If the first leg did not quite deliver, the second should more than make up.

The tie is on a knife-edge and so is the future of elite football.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.