Spanish Primera Liga Real Madrid v BarcelonaAs Real Madrid enter the last-chance saloon against Barcelona tomorrow,Sid Lowe, in Madrid, reports on the possible consequences ofdefeat

Ronaldo has insisted tomorrow's clasico with Barcelona is just like any other game rather than being Real Madrid's last chance of salvaging their season.

The Brazilian is a supremely laid-back footballer who kindly reminded his inquisitors that he has lived with intense pressure ever since he began playing. And yet his words can mean one of two things: either he is lying through his teeth or he is immune to the tangible air of nervousness surrounding the Real camp.

Certainly, Ronaldo's approach differs from that of his coach.

There is a hint of desperation about the fact that Wanderley Luxemburgo will play his most attacking hand: Michael Owen will get the opportunity he craves in the match that matters more than any other. Not in place of Ronaldo, who has not scored for a month, or Raul, whose drought has dragged on twice as long, but of Luis Figo.

It is an opportunity for Owen to turn his whole season, maybe even his whole Real Madrid career, on its head.

It is also an illustration of how Owen can deliver what Madrid lack, as ludicrous as that seems given the talent at their disposal. As Ronaldo put it yesterday: "This is a team and everyone has to contribute. Every time he has played, Michael has done that, by scoring goals."

How Madrid need his goals; last weekend's winner against Albacete was another reminder.

Like all classics, Real Madrid versus Barcelona is an epic full of twists and subplot, and tomorrow night is no exception. It is not just about saving the season; it is about averting a crisis: avoiding a second successive season in which the self-proclaimed greatest club on earth finishes empty-handed. Real Madrid have not gone two seasons without a trophy since 1992.

Madrid have already committed what the Spanish press have described as galacticide. They trail the league leaders Barcelona by nine points, with just eight league games remaining. They would at least salvage some pride with a victory, but if they lose it would be the club's darkest nightmare.

To see Barcelona's players dance across the Bernabeu turf celebrating what would effectively be a first league title in five years would cut deep. It would also spark Florentino Perez into action.

If there is one thing the Madrid president hates it is the finger of blame pointing at him. His galacticos policy, one that places financial gain over goals, has become a source of amusement and growing anger. So inflated have Perez's Madrid become that they were bound to burst.

But bursting against Barca would be the final straw. Perez must seek scapegoats; he is already on his fifth coach in two years. As one galactico confided: "It's vital we don't change coach again, but this is Real Madrid." Perez's Real Madrid to be precise - and if firing Luxemburgo helps protect the president's position, he will fire him.

Madrid's coach could survive. However, some of Madrid's players know the axe will be hanging over them tomorrow night. "Everyone has to prove their worth. If not, the club will decide who comes and who goes," said Ronaldo.

Figo's absence hints at a future elsewhere, and others may join him, although offloading the stars does not suit Perez's plan to, in his words, evangelise the world to the "universalism" of Real Madrid. Nor will it be easy: few will pay what Madrid demand.

Besides, Perez remains more concerned with bringing in new faces and selling optimism (as players have been explicitly told to do recently). New players are vital, yet Madrid's bad habits are still evident, especially if a victory over Barcelona blinds them to their own failings.

Brazil's Robinho, yet another creative midfielder, is all but signed from Santos. Perez, apparently having failed to learn from the Owen episode, also wants another striker. And Joaquin Sanchez of Real Betis and Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes top the shopping list: two wingers for Luxemburgo, a coach who has publicly insisted he does not want to play wingers. But then, this is Real Madrid.