A 92nd-minute goal by a former West Ham United midfielder playing for a Portuguese side in Israel wouldn't normally merit much attention from Liverpool supporters.
But for good reason was there undoubted delight at the news Joao Mario had scored deep in injury time for Benfica in their final Champions League game at Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday evening.
The strike sealed a remarkable 6-1 triumph for the Portuguese side and ensured they knocked Paris Saint-Germain - 2-1 winners at Juventus - off the top of Group H on the basis they had scored more goals away from home than their French rivals during the group stage.
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And it meant Liverpool would be spared the possibility of a return in the last 16 to Paris, with memories of events before, during and after the Champions League final in May in the city still raw in the minds of supporters, who patiently await the publication of UEFA's independent review into the matter.
Of course, from a purely football perspective, while Jurgen Klopp and his players would undoubtedly be at pains to point out every team who reaches the knockout stages of the competition is a major threat, Benfica - who the Reds eliminated in the quarter-finals last season and from whom they since taken chief striker Darwin Nunez - would represent a less daunting challenge than the might of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi at PSG.
As one of eight runners-up, Liverpool are unable to face Premier League group winners Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, and also can't be drawn against Napoli, who joined them in progressing from Group A.
It leaves Benfica as one of only four possible opponents for Klopp's side in the first knockout round when the draw takes place in Nyon at 11am on Monday, with Porto, Real Madrid and Sadio Mane's Bayern Munich the others - ensuring there is a high probability Liverpool will be drawn against a team they played last season.
This all points to a trend. Liverpool got beyond Porto three times in the last five years, while they overcame Bayern on the way to winning the tournament in 2019. Even in this campaign's group stage, while it was a first-ever meeting with Rangers, the Reds had taken on Napoli in 2018/19 and 2019/20 and beat Ajax home and away in 2020/21.
But it's the possibility of another clash against Real that most intrigues, the Reds having lost two of the last five Champions League finals against the Spaniards and eliminated by them at the quarter-final stage two years ago.
Not least given comments only last month from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on the apparent rarity of such fixtures as he attempted to drum up support for the flailing European Super League initiative with which Fenway Sports Group had their fingers so badly burned in April last year.
“If we look at tennis legends, Nadal and Federer have played for example 40 times in 15 years," said Perez at Real Madrid's annual general meeting. "Nadal and Djokovic have so far played 59 games in 16 years. Is this boring?
“In football, on the other hand, the data is amazing. If we look at the last Champions League finalist, Liverpool, an historic team with six European Cups, it turns out we have played them only nine times in 67 years. And only three times here in Madrid. What is the point of depriving fans around the world of these matches?"
Given they haven't won any of their last six meetings with Real, Liverpool would perhaps not welcome another trip to Bernabeu. But the familiarity of whoever they face will hopefully serve as a reminder of why the ludicrous European Super League is simply unnecessary.
Stick around long enough in the Champions League, and you'll end up playing the same teams over and over again. The repetition Real want is already happening now.
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