Euroscene/Paddy Agnew: Rivaldo, wherefore art thou? Has the well that spouts forth flowing Brazilian football, one of the main sources of Brazil's World Cup triumph last summer, finally dried up?

Has a combination of age, weariness and recent marital unrest prematurely brought down the curtain on one of the most glamorous careers of the last decade of world football?

As AC Milan prepare to take a 0-0 scoreline into the return leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie with Ajax Amsterdam at the San Siro tomorrow night, it is astonishing to reflect that Rivaldo may well start the game on the bench. One says astonishing because, in the wake of a 0-1 home loss to Empoli on Easter Saturday, tomorrow night's game has taken on an "all or nothing" aspect for the mighty Milan.

The side that played some flowing, champagne football in the first half of the season, inflicting defeats on Bayern Munich (twice), Real Madrid and Deportivo La Coruna along the way, has hit a period of inconsistent form recently, matching important league wins against Juventus and Inter Milan with disappointing defeats by Parma and Empoli.

That last-mentioned defeat on Saturday now leaves AC Milan nine points behind league leaders Juventus with just five games to play. In reality, AC Milan are out of the Serie A title contest and their seasonal eggs now lie almost exclusively in the Champions League basket (One says "almost exclusively" because Milan do have the small consolation of a forthcoming Italian Cup final against AS Roma).

In such circumstances, with a big game to win against Ronald Koeman's determined, young Ajax side, this would seem to be the perfect moment for Rivaldo to step forward and deliver. All the more so when you consider that Milan will be without midfield playmaking talent such as Andrea Pirlo and Dutchman Clarence Seedorf, both out for the rest of the season, whilst Portuguese playmaker Rui Costa is a less-than-certain starter because of injury.

Yet, the problem about Rivaldo is that he has manifestly failed to deliver during this first season with AC Milan. At first, most critics (and indeed his club) made allowances for the inevitable post-World Cup lull that hit not only Rivaldo but several of his team-mates including captain Cafu, at AS Roma. After all, it does not get much better than winning a World Cup and subsequent events must inevitably seem anti-climactic.

The World Cup, however, was all of ten months ago and that excuse no longer holds. Yet, last Saturday, playing on his 31st birthday, Rivaldo continued to look like an alien element in a Milan side that, admittedly, gave a poor performance that undoubtedly owed much to a collective preoccupation with tomorrow night's clash against Ajax.

A series of niggling injuries have clearly not helped the Brazilian ace. Yet it is at least arguable that Rivaldo's biggest problem this season has been one of marital stress, a problem that became public last month when Rivaldo admitted not only that he was separating from his wife, Rosa, but also that the strains in his marriage had undermined his football.

With Ajax continuing to rattle in useful results - they beat Roda 4-2 on Saturday to remain in second place, eight points behind league leaders and champions elect PSV Eindhoven - Milan will need to put their best foot forward.

Furthermore, Ajax picked up those points while taking the luxury of resting Czech midfielder Tomas Galasek, South African Steve Pienaar and local hero De Jong.

On the negative side, that game might have ruled out Ajax midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart, literally knocked out by a clash of heads with Roda's Ger Senden. Furthermore, Ajax's Brazilian defender Maxwell is also a doubtful starter because of an ankle injury aggravated against Roda.

In contrast, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti hopes that captain courageous Paolo Maldini, Argentine veteran Fernando Redondo and Croat defender Dario Simic - as well as Rui Costa - will all be back tomorrow night to play behind an attack led by Filippo Inzaghi and Ukraine bullet Andriy Shevchenko. He will need them all.

Even more, though, this is an occasion when he could do with all the skill, inspiration and creative flair of Rivaldo. Will they be available to him?

Wherefore art thou, Rivaldo?