It was a familiar tale for Paris Saint-Germain and their hopes of finally lifting the Champions League.
Just as they suffered at the hands of Barcelona in 2017, PSG were the victims of a stunning comeback, this time against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Parisians took a one-goal lead into the second leg, virtue of Kylian Mbappe’s injury-time winner at the Parc des Princes in the first meeting last month.
And Mbappe, who looks destined to join Madrid at the end of the season, appeared to have condemned the Spaniards to a European exit with a stunning first-half goal.
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But with their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread, Los Blancos completed a remarkable turnaround, thanks to the heroics of Karim Benzema - and a familiar PSG implosion.
Benzema got Madrid back into the tie after forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into a mistake, before bringing them level with less than 20 minutes to go.
Amidst a backdrop of deafening noise from the home fans, the 34-year-old completed his hat-trick just 12 seconds later, turning the two-legged affair completely on its head.
PSG head coach Mauricio Pochettino pointed the blame at referee Danny Makkelie and the VAR for not penalising Benzema for a foul on Donnarumma.
"Real's first goal changed the match," the Argentinean boss told Canal+. "I wonder what the VAR is doing because for me there is something else. It's a shame, when you see the action. [It is] a foul.
"It's impossible not to talk about this big mistake made by the referees. It's hard not to accept.
"After that, the match changed. For 60 minutes we dominated, that goal changed everything. It's incredible that this is happening in 2022."
But French sports newspaper L’Equipe, infamous for their savage player ratings, felt the finger of blame should instead be pointed at a number of Pochettino’s players.
Whilst they gave the referee a solid score of seven, the outlet gave Italian ‘keeper Donnarumma a 2/10 for his showing, with Benzema also suggesting that he should have cleared the ball more quickly in order to stop the first goal.
He said: "It's not a mistake [by Donnarumma]. It's pressure from the whole team. The goalkeeper waited and waited, he lost the ball and it was a goal. He should have cleared it, simple as that."
In the autopsy of their 6-1 thrashing by Barca five years ago, it was their Brazilian central defender and captain who took the majority of the blame.
And just like Thiago Silva at the Camp Nou, Marquinhos was heavily criticised for his display, earning the same score as his goalkeeper.
Fellow central defender Presnel Kimpembe earned a three, while summer signing Achraf Hakimi only managed a four.
Lionel Messi was the hero for Barca on that infamous night in 2017, but failed to have a major impact on proceedings this time around, although he earned a six, one point lower than goalscorer Mbappe, with Neymar the lowest rated PSG forward at four.
Defeat has piled pressure on Pochettino, who now looks almost certain to be turfed out after less than two seasons in charge.
However, from L’Equipe’s point of view he wasn’t the major issue, scoring 4/10 in comparison to his counterpart Carlo Ancelotti who was rated as a five.
Unsurprisingly, there was little debate over who the star man on the pitch was, with Benzema’s hat-trick seeing him given a nine, falling short of being one of the few players to earn a perfect score.
