A marathon season that will clock in at 62 games for Manchester United has just 450 minutes (and maybe extra time) to run and with four weeks until the curtain finally falls, there are still a couple of scenarios that could play out for this team.
United have already lifted the Carabao Cup, ending a six-year trophy drought. Will it be enough to mark Erik ten Hag's first season in charge as a success? It all depends on what happens in those next five games.
The campaign could end up with two cups and a return to the Champions League. It could end with an inexplicable collapse in the league and becoming a part of the story of Manchester City's treble. Maybe - and most likely - it will be somewhere in between.
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But the diverging paths those narratives go down show how much there is still left to play for between now and June 3. The final weeks of the season are often when the very best teams begin to truly show themselves.
You only have to glance across town to see that. Manchester City are better now than at any other point this season. They are only one slip-up away from handing back the initiative in the title race to Arsenal. They play European experts Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. An all-Manchester cup final brings its own challenges. But the confidence is coursing through City and although they've not won any silverware yet, the path to winning the three biggest prizes is lit up before them.
For United, the best of spring has brought the worst out of them. Just when they should be standing out from the crowd, they are falling back into the pack. Yes, this has been a demanding season and they look tired. They badly need this first free midweek since Christmas. But City aren't searching for excuses right now.
In the space of four days, United have been second best to Brighton and West Ham. Having looked down and laughed at Liverpool for most of the season, they are now glancing anxiously over their shoulders. Jurgen Klopp's side have narrowed the gap to a point and have the momentum that comes from six successive victories. Like City, they are on their best run of the season.
United have two wins in seven games (not including the penalty shoot-out against Brighton) and look to be regressing. They should be third and best of the rest behind a thrilling title race. Instead, there is suddenly a fear they will throw away a season of work.
If Liverpool beat Leicester and Southampton away and Aston Villa at home then United need to win three of their final four games to secure a Champions League return. It shouldn't be difficult. They welcome Wolves, Chelsea and Fulham to Old Trafford and travel to Bournemouth. It's a run of games that should return 12 points, never mind nine.
But Casemiro is playing as poorly as he has all season, Christian Eriksen is yet to return to his best form, Marcus Rashford has one goal in his last seven games and David de Gea is starting to look prone to a mistake or two. There is a shortage of in-form options in attack and a shortage of any options in defence. This week will have rocked confidence.
Maybe the break will do them the world of good. Beat Wolves and the pressure will ease. But any dropped points against next weekend's visitors or Bournemouth could result in a jittery final week. If United need to beat Chelsea and Fulham in the last four days of the season to finish fourth then the pressure will be on them. They've looked guaranteed of a top-four finish since they climbed into that position at the end of December. To be in danger of chucking it away to Liverpool will lead to a nerve-shredding finale.
In an ideal world for Ten Hag, it won't come down to the final day. It suddenly feels like United need to rediscover some momentum ahead of the cup final. Who knows how high the stakes will be at Wembley.
It's four months since Ten Hag recorded his first derby win at Old Trafford, but if the two teams were meeting this week City would be huge favourites. If the cup final rolls around and Pep Guardiola's team are on for a treble then it will be the most significant meeting between these rivals there has ever been. United will want to stop a repeat of their 1999 heroics. City will know the Champions League final is easier than the FA Cup final, whichever Milanese side they end up facing.
So with five games to go, the story of this season is still to be written. Ten Hag needs his best players to get back to their best form. He needs his leaders to lead. After 57 games they've put themselves in a position for a season that could be brilliant. How the next five go will define that.
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