So early did Barcelona's penalty come in the second-half against Chelsea that a second successive Champions League final felt inevitable.
Lionel Messi has missed from 12 yards before, but when his strike cannoned off of the crossbar, he was stripped of confidence and rendered impotent.
Yes, Petr Cech saved superbly when he tipped the Argentine's left-footed strike onto the post later on in the game, but the Barca number 10 overhit and underhit passes, as well as running into Blue brick walls.
Choking from the 18-yard box's white dot happens to the best of players during game-time though, as the following victims will attest:
RUUD VAN NISTELROOY V ARSENAL, 2003
Had the Dutchman have scored from 12 yards in stoppage-time, there would have been no "Arsenal Invincibles".
KEVIN-PRINCE BOATENG V CHELSEA, 2010
By this point, Chelsea should have been out of sight in the FA Cup final but somehow the score was 0-0. Portsmouth, whose cup success two years previously was peppered with unbelievable luck, looked on course to being the beneficiaries of lightning striking twice when they were awarded a penalty. But Boateng choked horrifically.
ASAMOAH GYAN V URUGUAY, 2010 WORLD CUP
With the final kick in extra-time, Gyan had the chance to make Ghana the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. But instead, like Alan Brazil at a freebie event, he hit the bar. Uruguay would beat the Ghanians on penalties in the shootout - when Gyan scored.
NEMANJA VIDIC V SLOVENIA, 2011
Vidic had only taken one penalty in a shootout for Manchester United in five years, and that just crept in against Everton in the 2009 FA Cup semi-final. So with Euro 2012 qualification at stake and Serbia 1-0 down to the Slovenians, he was a curious choice. And the wrong one too. His feeble effort ensured the Serbs would not be hop-footing to Ukraine and Poland, and the United captain promptly retired from international duty.
ARJEN ROBBEN V BORUSSIA DORTMUND, 2012
Bayern Munich's 2-1 loss to Dortmund has been regarded as the end of their title challenge this season and, similarly to Van Nistelrooy, the money shot is of a defender executing schadenfreude in the face of the penalty-taker. Neven Subotic does a good Martin Keown impression in front of a dejected Robben.