Mikel Arteta will be watching from home, helpless, as two of his close friends go head-to-head to potentially decide the fate of Arsenal's Premier League title hopes.
Born three months and six miles apart, Arteta and Andoni Iraola played for the same Basque youth team, Antiguoko.
Arteta, meanwhile, has spoken extensively of how Pep Guardiola has been a key influence on him since he was 15, first as a player at Barcelona and then as the manager he was assistant to at Manchester City.
Iraola's Bournemouth side host City tonight and if they avoid defeat, as they have done in every league match since they lost to Arsenal in early January, the Gunners will be champions.
Arteta said he will be Bournemouth's "biggest ever fan" and quite rightly so, after a night that emphasised Arsenal could really do with this title race not going to the final day of the season.
The Gunners beat Burnley 1-0 to edge a step closer to the title. As has been the theme of the season, and particularly the past five months, it was agonisingly tense.
"I thought the amount of hair I have would never go away, and this job is going to test it to the limit," Arteta joked after the match.
Burnley did not have a shot on target but they did have 67 per cent possession from the 70th minute until the end of the match.
Arsenal relied on their defensive strength and have not conceded from open play since the defeat to City last month. It is now 13 times they have won 1-0 this season.
However, this was also a reality check to anyone - and there should not be many among the Arsenal fanbase after what they have been through this season - who thought the title race was effectively over.
That was a narrative supported by Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville among others, insisting that beating West Ham last weekend was Arsenal's final remaining hurdle.
Hosting an already relegated Burnley side, this was pitched as a chance to cut loose. Arteta named Eze and Odegaard together in midfield. Havertz led the line. Everything pointed to fun, goals and a stress-free night.
Everything, that is, except for all that has come before. Arsenal have not done comfortable. The win over Fulham earlier this month aside, the last vaguely routine victory came against Tottenham in February. Even then it was level at half-time.
It should probably have been no surprise, then, that Burnley were not swatted aside. Instead, it was a match to perfectly sum up the season.
A set-piece goal, a final 20 minutes riddled with anxiety, but ultimately an elite defensive unit able to stand up to the test.
It is hard to see the trip to Crystal Palace on the final day of the season being anything particularly different, unless Bournemouth get the job done against City.
I will play the strongest team against Arsenal
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner
City have been further lifted by winning the FA Cup. There is also now the firm expectation this is the final week of Guardiola's career at the club and his players will be absolutely desperate to send him out on a high.
For Arsenal, significant stock has been put into the fact Palace have a Conference League final three days after the match, the assumption being the team will be rotated and minds will be elsewhere.
However, Oliver Glasner has said: “I will play the strongest team against Arsenal.
“We do it for us, we don’t do it for City and we don’t do it for anyone else. We do it for Crystal Palace and we do it for our fans.
“It’s the last game [of the season] at Selhurst, they deserve to see a top performance. This is what we want to show against Arsenal and of course we will manage the minutes a little bit.”
There is little to suggest Arsenal will cruise over the line at Selhurst Park. Even if Palace do make changes, their rotated cast are still probably a better team than Burnley, who Arsenal did not find it easy against.
With the title on the line, and potentially news of City racking up the goals against Aston Villa filtering through, there is not much that feels like a gimme for Arsenal right now.
It is to their great credit that Arsenal have had the physical and mental strength to go through the wringer so many times, performing in the pressure cooker they themselves have turned up the heat of.
Doing so on the final day of the season, even with a two-point lead at the top, would be this Arsenal side's greatest test yet.
That occasion has the potential to be unbearable for all of an Arsenal persuasion. On the other hand, if Bournemouth can take a point or three off City, it will be party atmosphere all around Selhurst Park.
A guard of honour, a warm welcome back for Eberechi Eze, both sets of supporters in buoyant mood in the south London sun, looking ahead to European finals.
That is the dream scenario. To get it, Arteta needs the ultimate favour from his childhood friend.
