After the trip to Porto, New Manchester United's attention returned immediately to the Premier League and their home match against Middlesbrough.
Before kick-off, Liverpool suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat away to Everton in the Merseyside derby, leaving Benítez's side beginning to lose ground in the title race. Even so, nobody was prepared to dismiss them. Liverpool remained the kind of team capable of producing results when least expected.
The biggest fixture of the round was Arsenal against Chelsea, the first meeting between the two that season and a match that attracted enormous attention.
By comparison, New Manchester United's home game against Middlesbrough and Manchester United's trip to Fulham looked considerably less dramatic.
Mourinho restored his strongest available side.
Beckham continued his outstanding form, scoring once and setting up another as the Red Rebels beat Middlesbrough 3-0.
Elsewhere, Chelsea came from behind to defeat Arsenal 2-1. Shevchenko scored the equaliser before Deco struck from distance in the second half to complete the turnaround, allowing Ancelotti's side to keep the pressure on the leaders.
Manchester United, meanwhile, dropped more points.
Ferguson's side were held 1-1 at Fulham, extending a poor run of form that showed little sign of ending. Edwin van der Sar was outstanding for the hosts, producing a succession of saves that prevented Manchester United from taking control of the match in the first half.
His performances against Ferguson's side over the previous few seasons had already attracted attention, and after the match reports emerged that Manchester United were considering a move for the Dutch veteran.
Ferguson made little effort to hide his admiration.
Wenger was interested too.
Arsenal had been searching for a reliable long-term goalkeeper since David Seaman's departure, and Jens Lehmann's increasingly frequent mistakes had become a concern. His latest error against Chelsea had contributed directly to a costly defeat.
By the morning after the seventeenth league round, the English papers were already speculating about a possible battle between Manchester United and Arsenal for Van der Sar.
Almost nobody noticed that Beckham had been absent from training on the afternoon of December 13.
There was a simple reason.
He was in France.
Under the arrangement between France Football and Canal+, the Ballon d'Or winner would be formally presented during a live prime-time broadcast on the evening before the magazine published its official announcement.
The ceremony itself was relatively intimate.
Only a limited number of leading journalists from around the world were invited to attend in person and witness the presentation.
Two traditions had developed around the event.
The first was the appearance of the newly crowned Miss France.
The second was a specially prepared segment designed to surprise the winner.
Beckham already knew that he had won.
When France Football editor Gérard Ernault travelled to England, the formal presentation photographs had been taken privately at Beckham's home. Ethan and Eva had been present alongside Victoria, and Ernault had also conducted the exclusive interview that would appear in the next day's edition of the magazine.
The live ceremony was scheduled for 6:50 in the evening.
Beckham arrived early at Canal+'s headquarters with his representative.
Given the level of attention surrounding him, and the unusually large number of invited guests, the organisers had moved the event from the smaller Studio 1 into Studio 3.
Fifty prominent journalists had been invited from around the world, including several of the most influential football writers in England.
Most had heard rumours that the winner played in the Premier League.
Few knew anything more.
The reception began downstairs shortly after six o'clock.
Ernault hosted alongside a senior representative of the L'Équipe group.
Around the room stood large framed photographs of previous winners, including Ronaldo Nazário, Zinedine Zidane and Pavel Nedvěd, each holding the Ballon d'Or.
At the entrance, however, the mystery ended immediately.
Stacks of the next day's France Football had already been arranged on either side of the doorway.
On the cover was David Beckham.
The photograph showed him holding the Ballon d'Or.
Anyone entering the room now knew the answer.
The 2004 Ballon d'Or belonged to Beckham.
Few could seriously argue that his previous two seasons had been anything other than extraordinary.
He had captained New Manchester United to a second successive UEFA Cup triumph.
He had led a newly promoted side to the Premier League title without losing a single league match.
That unbeaten run had continued into the current season and now stood just three matches short of Fabio Capello's famous 58-game benchmark with AC Milan.
New Manchester United were also top of the Premier League and had finished first in their Champions League group.
Through all of it, Beckham had been one of their most influential players.
He had been named Premier League Player of the Season the previous year and, if anything, had begun the current campaign in even better form.
The other leading candidates all had strong cases.
Ronaldinho had been superb for Barcelona, but the club's UEFA Cup defeat to New Manchester United counted against him when compared directly with Beckham.
Shevchenko's scoring record remained excellent, first at AC Milan and then at Chelsea, but he was not the player through whom either side's entire game flowed. At Milan, Pirlo had been central to the team's structure. At Chelsea, Deco and Verón carried much of the responsibility for controlling midfield.
Henry's case was similarly formidable, but even his influence at Arsenal was often measured primarily through goals and attacking output.
Beckham's candidacy was broader.
He had become the organising centre of a title-winning team.
He controlled matches.
He created chances.
He scored.
He defended.
And he had done it with extraordinary consistency.
The transformation of his role since joining New Manchester United had also become one of the defining stories in European football.
There was another factor as well.
The contrast between Beckham's club and international performances had become impossible to ignore.
After his retirement from England, the national team had collapsed into crisis. When he returned, England immediately produced their best performance in years, prompting one newspaper to joke that half of England's midfield seemed to disappear whenever Beckham did.
That narrative had undoubtedly strengthened his profile.
Ethan had always maintained that no individual award could ever be perfectly objective.
The FIFA World Player of the Year was not entirely fair.
Neither was the Ballon d'Or.
Any award decided by human beings would inevitably reflect personal judgement, reputation and the information available to voters.
A journalist who had followed one league closely and another only occasionally could hardly be expected to evaluate every candidate with identical depth.
Personal impressions mattered too.
If a leading journalist had once requested an interview with a player, been refused and developed a poor opinion of him afterwards, could anyone truly guarantee that it would have no influence at all when the ballot arrived?
Absolute neutrality was impossible.
Even the distribution of the electorate could shape the result.
The previous year, Pavel Nedvěd had benefited significantly from strong support among Eastern European journalists. Analysis of the voting had shown that many of those ballots were concentrated heavily behind him, while votes from Western Europe were spread among several candidates.
This year, the Western European vote had been much more concentrated.
Beckham had emerged with the largest total.
Inside the studio, Ernault stepped forward.
"David Beckham," he said, "on behalf of France Football, it is my pleasure to present you with the 2004 Ballon d'Or. You are the fourth Englishman to win this award, and the first player in New Manchester United's history to do so. Congratulations."
He shook Beckham's hand and placed the trophy into his arms.
Beckham had already held it privately at home.
Yet this felt completely different.
Under the studio lights, with the cameras broadcasting live and fifty senior journalists watching, the significance of the moment finally seemed to settle on him.
His hands trembled slightly.
All his career, Beckham had wanted to prove himself.
When he left Manchester United, part of him had wondered whether the biggest stage of his career was already behind him.
Instead, his move to New Manchester United had changed everything.
Mourinho had reinvented him tactically.
The Lab had helped maintain and refine his physical condition.
The coaching staff had given him a role that suited the player he had become rather than the winger he had once been.
Now he was holding the Ballon d'Or.
For a moment, Beckham looked close to tears.
After the presentation, the lights dimmed and a short film began playing on the studio screen.
It started with Beckham as a child, discovering football.
Then came Manchester United's academy.
His first-team breakthrough.
The great nights at Old Trafford.
The trophies.
The England captaincy.
The film then moved to 2003, to the breakdown of his relationship with Ferguson and his eventual sale.
Finally came his second career at New Manchester United.
The new role.
The Premier League title.
The UEFA Cup.
The unbeaten run.
The Champions League.
Watching it all compressed into a few minutes made the memories feel strangely immediate.
When the film ended, Canal+ sports director Cyril Linette came forward to conduct a short interview.
Inevitably, much of the conversation focused on Manchester United and the decision that had changed Beckham's career.
His answer remained consistent with what he had already told France Football.
"I'll always love Manchester United," Beckham said. "That doesn't change because I left. I grew up there. I became a footballer there. Even after everything that happened, I'll always have that connection."
He glanced down at the trophy.
"But New Manchester United changed my career."
He smiled.
"I've only been there a short time compared with the years I spent at Old Trafford, but what has happened since I joined has meant an enormous amount to me. I love the club. I love the people there."
"And I'd like to stay until I retire."
The interviewer smiled.
"And afterwards?"
Beckham laughed.
"Maybe coaching. Fernando Redondo seems to be enjoying retirement, so perhaps I'll ask him for advice."
The studio laughed with him.
Then came a more personal question.
"If you had to name the people you're most grateful to, who would they be?"
"That's impossible," Beckham said. "My parents. My family. My friends. There are too many."
"Then let's make it easier. Who had the greatest influence on your career?"
Beckham thought for a moment.
"First, Sir Alex."
The answer drew an immediate reaction from the room.
"He's the manager who gave me my career. In many ways, he was like a father to me. We had our problems, obviously, but that doesn't erase everything that came before. I respect him, and I always will."
He continued.
"Then Victoria."
His expression softened.
"She's stood by me through everything. Especially when things were difficult. People have blamed her for what happened between me and Sir Alex, but that isn't fair. She never caused that."
Then Beckham smiled again.
"And I have to mention Ethan."
"Ethan Yu is one of my closest friends. He encouraged me when things were difficult, gave me advice, believed in me and was a huge part of why I joined New Manchester United."
He lifted the Ballon d'Or slightly.
"If I hadn't made that move, I don't think I'd be standing here with this."
"So yes, I owe him a lot."
The interviewer leaned forward with an expectant smile.
"Then suppose we could arrange for one of those three people to come here tonight and congratulate you in person. Who would you choose?"
Beckham stared at him.
The question was too specific.
For a second, he tried to work it out.
Ferguson was almost certainly impossible. Manchester United were struggling badly, and given everything that had happened between them, Beckham could hardly imagine him flying to Paris for a television surprise.
Victoria was at home with their young son.
That left only one realistic possibility.
Beckham's eyes widened slightly.
"Ethan?"
The interviewer only smiled.
Beckham turned towards the screen.
A moment later, Ethan appeared.
Beckham laughed in disbelief.
Ethan had told him that he would not be coming to France. Canal+ had invited journalists and football officials, not club owners, and Beckham had believed him.
Apparently that had been the point.
Ethan walked into the studio smiling.
No explanation was necessary.
Beckham put down the trophy and went straight towards him.
The two men embraced tightly in front of the cameras.
For a few seconds, neither said anything.
They did not need to.
(To be continued.)
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◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)