Zinedine Zidane said last week he wants to stay at Real Madrid but how welcome his wishes are will depend on the team's Champions league tie against Juventus.
Real face Zidane's former club in the first leg of the quarter-final on Tuesday, knowing their season, and perhaps the Frenchman's future as coach, hinges on reaching the last four.
The mood in Madrid, however, is upbeat. Real have won 10 out of their last 11 matches scoring 36 goals in that period, at an average of just over three a game.
"The match comes at a good time for us," Real forward lucas Vazquez said. "We have been doing things well for the last few months, playing better, more goals, it's a good moment and now we have to try to take advantage of it in this tie."
Zidane will be returning to Turin for the first time as a manager, his last outing as a player there coming in March 2005 when Real were beaten 2-0 by the Old lady in the Champions league last 16.
Thirteen years on, Gianluigi Buffon is the only player likely to make a repeat appearance this week but the two current teams need no introduction, their latest meeting coming in the competition's final last year.
That 4-1 victory remains the high-point of Zidane's Real tenure, not only because it earned him an unprecedented second consecutive Champions league crown but because of the sheer ruthlessness of the performance.
If Zidane uses the win in Cardiff as a reference point, it may be to the advantage of Isco, who was excellent there, having been picked ahead of Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio.
Isco trained on Sunday after missing Saturday's win over las Palmas with a back problem and he may still be flying high from his hat-trick for Spain against Argentina last week.
For Juventus, who edged past Tottenham in the round of 16, it is an opportunity to avenge last year's loss and sustain hopes of an historic treble. They have won both Serie A and the Coppa Italia for the past three consecutive seasons, but each time fell short of adding the Champions league, twice losing in the final.
Bayern vs sevilla
Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has said there were no celebrations when his players watched the Champions league draw come out but Sevilla head into Tuesday's tie as the overwhelming under-dogs of the quarter-finals.
"The team was not euphoric [at the draw]," Heynckes said. "They reacted very calmly, as though they just had a beer.
This will be the first ever appearance in a Champions league quarter-final for Sevilla who were responsible for the least expected blow landed on the Premier league after they dumped out Manchester United in the last 16 following a fearless 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
Bayern that hammered third-placed Borussia Dortmund 6-0 on Saturday to move 17 points clear of the top of the Bundesliga and they are looking to reach their sixth Champions league semi-final in seven years.