Darwin Nunez put his hand up for a penalty, and for that you must give the Liverpool forward a fair amount of credit. But there was a sense of inevitability about his miss against PSG — which some feel is reflected in the reaction of Mohamed Salah.
The sole reason that Nunez still gets so much patience from the Anfield faithful is that he will always show for the ball. Regardless of his form, he will keep plugging away, and keep getting into positions — it's what made Arne Slot's recent criticism of his work rate especially surprising.
And it is good that the fans still sing his name; Liverpool revels in its exceptionalism, and You'll Never Walk Alone has to mean something when players continue to give 100 per cent. Having said that, it's completely fair to have grown weary of the record signing, who has come absolutely nowhere near offering a viable succession plan for the attack once Salah moves on.
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Indeed, every single Liverpool supporter would take another season of 32-year-old Salah over Nunez in a heartbeat. Arriving as the future of the team, he is surely now on borrowed time.
Liverpool did the right thing by keeping Nunez in January, a move which in its own way was show of ambition. But a parting of the ways in summer feels increasingly inevitable, with the penalty only serving to underscore some of the issues.
What exactly was going through Salah's head, only he will know. But after slotting away his own penalty, the optics of the Egyptian's reaction after Nunez fluffed his lines were not especially positive.
In new fan footage, Virgil van Dijk can be seen breaking away from the group to come and console Nunez. Most of the rest of the team then gather around the striker, offering words of comfort.
But Salah stays apart from his teammates, his hands on his hips. His stony expression likely mirrored those of millions of fans around the world.
Naturally, Salah's response may not have been directed specifically at Nunez. The Egyptian is hugely driven, and he had just seen Liverpool's chances of progression take a hit.
Not only that, but the contest had reached a stage where there was nothing more Salah could do to influence proceedings. That cannot be a nice feeling for a player who thrives on delivering at the biggest moments.
And of course, there's the added element of Salah's Ballon d'Or potentially slipping away from him. An early Champions League exit stacks the odds in favor of some of his rivals.
But you can't help but wonder if the chronic lack of confidence in Nunez has spread from the fans to his teammates. For Salah and indeed Slot, who set the highest of standards, there comes a point where effort alone no longer cuts the mustard.
