Overwrought, melodramatic, filled with unforgettable soundbites: Diego Maradona's last appearance on the hallowed turf of the Bombonera has gone down in Argentine football legend.
In November 2001, four years after making his final professional appearance for Boca Juniors, the ever-divisive 1986 World Cup hero was treated to a farewell tribute match featuring the likes of Davor Suker, Eric Cantona, Carlos Valderrama and even Marcelo Bielsa, coaching Diego's Argentina Stars.
“I made mistakes and I paid, but the ball can never be tainted,” the weeping No. 10 spluttered after the game, perhaps the most famous of the countless phrases he has uttered over the years that are remembered almost as fondly as his goals and titles.
Since that spring afternoon, Maradona has been a regular visitor to the Xeneize, holding a private box in their Bombonera home. But Saturday marks his first official visit since relaunching his coaching career with Gimnasia – and in a game that Boca must win.
The Buenos Aires giants have been rejuvenated since December's elections brought Juan Roman Riquelme back to the club as vice-president in charge of playing affairs, with the ex-playmaker putting Miguel Angel Russo, coach when Boca last won the Copa Libertadores in 2007, on the bench.
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A draw in January against Independiente was followed by five straight Superliga wins that propelled them back up the table, with 15 goals scored and just one conceded during that sparkling run.
Arch-rivals River Plate nevertheless retain control of the summit, leading by one point as the league heads into its final weekend. The Millonario visit Atletico Tucuman on Saturday at the same time that Boca kick off against Diego's Gimnasia, knowing they only need match their adversary's result to take the title.
Maradona has also launched a warning: with Gimnasia also fighting tooth and nail against relegation, his old club should not expect any favours.
“I am the Gimnasia coach. I love Boca but my little heart is Tripero,” he told reporters after downing Atletico Tucuman 1-0 in the La Plata's side's last outing.
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The Maradona carnival began in September when Gimnasia shocked the football world by appointing the ex-Argentina and Dorados coach.
By all accounts, he is less a tactician than a motivator around the club: assistant Sebastian Mendez takes charge of most of the nuts and bolts of coaching, while Diego attends training sporadically or not at all; at the end of February, he missed four consecutive sessions following defeat to Rosario Central.
But the effect he has on the Argentine top flight has been nothing short of sensational.
Opposing teams have fallen over themselves to pay homage to the little firecracker, with Newell's Old Boys kicking off a tradition of giving Diego a plush leather 'throne' – because the bench is obviously beneath such a football aristocrat – from which he can watch the games. Gimnasia also copied the homage, auctioning off one signed piece of furniture for AR$300,000 (around US$5,000) to one lucky – and well-off – fan.
And while it is easy to see his arrival in La Plata as a publicity stunt, results have picked up. Prior to Maradona's appointment Gimnasia were rock-bottom with four defeats out of five and heading for relegation; after a rocky start of three further defeats, they have now lost just four of their last 14 games and, last Saturday, finally got their first home win of the season.
True to that famous moniker of the 'Hand of God', Diego invoked the spirits: fans were told to attend the game clutching rosaries and crucifixes to end the curse, while the entire first team received crucifixes from their coach as gifts.
“I don't believe in these things... but it was a beautiful gift, he gave each of us a chain, we will have something of Diego forever,” beamed defender Maxi Coronel after the game to Jogo Bonito.
Whatever one thinks of Maradona, there is no doubt that he has injected life and confidence into a team that prior to his arrival were all but dead in the water, resigned to playing next season in the Primera Nacional.
One would expect Maradona's Bombonera return to be the biggest tribute of all, given his status as their most famous fan and his previous achievements at the club as a player in spells in both the 80s and 90s.
This being Diego, though, things are never that simple. For a start, his feud with Riquelme that dates back to the pair's falling out in the Argentina team in 2009 still smoulders, while he is also no fan of president Jorge Amor Ameal, who won the December elections with Roman on his ticket despite Maradona's criticisms.
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“This has become a soap opera and I'm not interested in being involved in this,” Ameal told TyC Sports when quizzed about the plans for Maradona's homecoming. “He is a Boca idol, we respect idols and we have always said that idols should not get involved in politics.
“We have to take care of Diego, he shouldn't be made to do things which are wrong.” Maradona's reply was instant and typically withering: “Ameal? Isn't it Amear? I don't know him from anywhere. I don't know if he used to milk cows, if he sold milk.
“Now he says, 'No, we won't give Maradona a plaque.' Who asked you for one, mate? Who asked you, but you know where you can stick your plaque?”
There were, at least, kind words for another former Albiceleste charge, Boca veteran Carlos Tevez: “I want to tell Carlitos I am going to give him a little kiss. I'm going to be all over him.”
Thankfully, tensions have calmed in the days leading up to Saturday's game and there will be a plaque for Maradona at the Bombonera, handed over by his ex-team-mate Miguel Brindisi and destined for his crowded mantelpiece rather than any delicate areas of Ameal's anatomy.
While there will be no throne this time, Boca are planning to lay out a yellow 'red' carpet to walk over on his way to the dugout.
Diego's former agent and long-time collaborator Guillermo Coppola, last seen twerking in an Ibiza beach party, is also set to be there, while a rousing standing ovation from the home crowd is guaranteed despite his hopes of spiking Boca's title hopes once and for all.
The season is not quite done yet for Gimnasia, who can still accrue more points in their fight against relegation in the upcoming Copa Superliga (they currently trail fellow strugglers Patronato and Colon by three, with two teams going down automatically). But three points at the Bombonera would be a huge boost for a side that against all odds has shown steady improvement during Maradona's chaotic reign.
Having impressed during his single season at Dorados, Diego himself also has a point to prove as he still seeks recognition as a serious coach.
While the thrones and effusive homages that greet his every appearance hardly aid that image, a win against his beloved Boca would go a long way to show that behind the larger-than-life cartoon figure is a man who can be an asset on the bench.
If that interferes with the Xeneize's Superliga aspirations, that is the price they will have to pay.