It is not hyperbole to claim that the seasons of two of the largest clubs of English football will make or break in the next two weeks.
Chelsea Women and Manchester City Women will fight four times against three games in just 12 days, starting with the final of the League Cup this Saturday.
Talking to public and private with players of both parties, it is honest to say that the teams know that they have it all or very little to play for these matches.
Let's start with Man City, who are looking for their season.
Gareth Taylor was fired on Monday with the club that is currently on track to miss Champions League football twice in three years.
Nick Cushing, who led City to their only WSL title nine years ago, is back and the team insists that they are in a good place.
A team meeting was held on Tuesday morning where the expectations were repeated for the rest of the season and optimism was maintained.
Speaking with the big signing of January Kerolin Nicoli This week you would think that City are the favorites that go into this. She believes that they have the talent and the asset to consistently defeat Chelsea, regardless of their recent struggles.
The players have to support that because four bad matches and it is almost a game for their season.
Losing a cup -final, the elimination of Champions League and further slid behind the top three, saw that the FA Cup is the lipstick on a pig from a campaign.
As far as Chelsea is concerned, just listen to their head coach Sonia Bompastor.
She wants to win it all and the final of Saturday in Pride Park as potential the start of a special era in the club.
The Chelsea players do not think of their disappointing record in the competition. They only focus on serving another memory why they are the best team in the country.
Bompastor is open about the fact that she wants to win the Champions League – it is clear that the team believes they can do it too.
But if they lift the trophy in Lisbon in May, they will have to do it in the hard way.
They are confronted with old rivals Man City, possibly play champions and recent archenemy Barcelona in the semi -final for a final that could be against Arsenal or Bompastor's old club Lyon.
With a huge advantage in the competition, European glory should become the priority in terms of team selection until the end of the season.
That is of course after the final of the League Cup on Saturday where someone drives back home with not only a shiny new trophy, but also hope that this season will be one to remember.
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