Manchester United and Tottenham are set to meet in the biggest ever footballing 'get out of jail free' stakes in Bilbao - but could winning the trophy actually be a curse?
Quickly, pop that balloon.
Turn the music down.
Stop singing about Eric Cantona and Ledley King.
No one likes a party pooper but let's get real and pour some cold water on the Bilbao party for a moment. This 'get out jail free' card on offer from UEFA in the form of Champions League qualification through winning the Europa League might not be in the best long-term interests of these two underachieving football clubs.
Think about it. Are Spurs and Manchester United truly capable of managing a Premier League campaign alongside playing in the Champions League next season?
Even Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has issued such a warning, saying: "We are not ready to play Premier League competitively and be in the Champions League."
England will indeed have six spots in the Champions League next year, with one of United and Spurs guaranteed to qualify through winning the Europa League.
It's good news for clubs given the total prize pot for the Champions League - which this season expanded from 32 to 36 teams - is up to £2.06bn, compared to £1.74bn in the previous format last season.
A run to the semi-finals earned Arsenal roughly £70m in prize money. For comparison, Manchester United received just £3.9m in prize money for winning the FA Cup last summer.
Off the pitch, winning in Bilbao would be met by huge sighs of relief in both boardrooms, but trying to negotiate a Premier League season with the added load of Champions League football is going to make life very tricky again for either club.
In amongst the allure and excitement of Bilbao and what might transpire in the final, it's easy to forget Spurs' home defeats to Ipswich and Leicester, the misery of watching this Man Utd team play football at Old Trafford, the boos, the bashing from pundits, the social media meltdowns and general embarrassment of what both clubs have produced this season.
United have set a record low points tally for a Premier League season in being able to only reach a maximum of 48 points - their previous lowest was 58. Spurs have lost 19 Premier League games - the most after 34 league games in the club's history.
Between these two, they have lost 35 Premier League games.
Both clubs are in need of a reset. Another rebuild. A season of consolidation.
Not having a Champions League campaign - and at least eight league-phase matches to negotiate - wouldn't be a bad thing.
If Amorim and whoever oversees Spurs want to keep their jobs next season, the bread and butter of the Premier League will dictate matters in that regard.
In an ideal world, without PSR restraints and the lure of playing European football being a necessity for most players, both clubs could just do with a season of Premier League focus.
Just look what it did for Chelsea in 2016/17.
After a season in the doldrums, finishing 10th in the Premier League, Antonio Conte revitalised the club and, without the added stresses of European football, roared them to a Premier League title.
He is on the cusp of repeating the trick with Napoli this season, taking a team that finished 10th and therefore without European football to a Serie A title with a rampaging end-of-season run, whilst chief rivals Inter Milan have been ultimately distracted by their path to the Champions League final.
Inter have shown how going deep in a European campaign can hurt domestic form and it happens regularly on these shores too.
West Ham finished seventh in 2021/22 and won the Conference League. The next season, they finished 14th.
Newcastle finished fourth in 2022/23 and enjoyed a Champions League campaign but then dropped to seventh.
Brighton finished sixth, went on a Europa League adventure and then dropped to 11th as it all unravelled for Roberto De Zerbi.
Since 2004, 25 of 35 teams who qualify for Europe that didn't the season before all won fewer points in the next season as the bright lights of those exciting midweek nights made it difficult to keep concentrated on domestic matters.
Although Spurs and Manchester United don't officially fall into that category, it gives a relevant overview of how a European campaign can make it very hard to remain consistent in the Premier League.
Look at Aston Villa.
They fully embraced the Champions League challenge and produced some memorable nights - beating Bayern Munich at Villa Park - that ultimately led to a quarter-final place, before giving Paris Saint-Germain a serious fright in that last-eight tie, where they were only eliminated by one goal.
But this did come at a cost to their league form, where their results after a Champions League night became affected.
In 11 matches after a European night, Villa won just four of their 11 Premier League games. That's in stark contrast to their form of late, where the rest between games has increased. Since the completion of the league phase of the Champions League, Villa have only lost once in the Premier League from 12 games.
Losing in Bilbao will hurt either team - but that short-term pain might be in the best interests of the club for some long-term gain.
Could those losers actually be the real winners?
Watch the top-five race on Sky Sports this weekend
It's another huge weekend on Sky Sports for the clubs vying for top-five finishes.
On Saturday Night Football, Aston Villa go to Bournemouth needing a win to keep their challenge alive, with coverage starting at 5pm on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event and kick-off at 5.30pm.
On Super Sunday, you can watch Nottingham Forest try to boost their hopes by beating Leicester in the earlier kick-off on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event at 2.15pm.
After that, it's Arsenal's turn. The Gunners still have work to do to secure their Champions League spot, starting against Liverpool at Anfield, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event and kicking off at 4.30pm.