Tottenham Hotspur were thrashed by Brighton & Hove Albion to finish a miserable Premier League campaign that has been salvaged and then some overseas.
Indeed, Ange Postecoglou's side dared to dream in midweek, beating Manchester United in Bilbao to seal the Europa League title and end 17 interminable years of rotten luck on the trophy front.
A hangover was expected, but this bruising defeat was not an outlier for the Lilywhites, who have wrapped up the 2024/25 league campaign languishing in 17th place.
There's much for chairman Daniel Levy to chew on over the coming months, with several players doing themselves few favours down N17 this weekend.
Spurs' worst performers vs Brighton
Tottenham lost their 22nd top-flight match of the season, marking the end of their worst-ever Premier League campaign.
The defensive capitulation underlined the crux of Postecoglou's woe this season, with pitiful performances from the newly-promoted trio proving the tenuous barrier between Tottenham and a true relegation dogfight.
There were more than a few tired legs after the interval, and Dominic Solanke's early penalty was too little to give Tottenham the strength they needed to finish the term off on strong footing, with Pedro Porro and Archie Gray lacking their usual enthusiasm, substitute Wilson Odobert inefficient when welcomed after the break.
Yves Bissouma made a hash of things when brought off the bench, giving away the penalty after bringing down Diego Gomez in the box, leading to Matt O'Riley's spot-kick to make it 3-1. A fourth would follow in stoppage time.
It was a performance to forget, all told. Certainly not the fixture of the week that will be remembered in years to come.
One man in particular failed to replicate his sparkling midweek form, shining a light on his ability to emerge at the biggest moment, reminiscent of former hero Lucas Moura.
Spurs' new Lucas Moura
Lucas played an important role for Tottenham after signing from Paris Saint-Germain for £23m in 2018, posting 39 goals and 27 assists across 221 appearances in all competitions.
However, he didn't always maintain the requisite levels for a reputation in English football as a truly deadly forward, one who can maintain their output invariably.
Now, Brennan Johnson is in danger of adopting a similar reputation, proving Tottenham's hero on a big night but struggling to project his finest form with the desired degree of consistency.
Make no mistake, this has been a promising term for the former Nottingham Forest man, who joined for a £47.5m fee in July 2023 and has sharpened his goalscoring sense this year, bagging 18 goals and seven assists in all competitions.
He failed to add to his haul against the Seagulls, however, unable to influence proceedings for his struggling and, frankly, sapped side.
Football.london's Alasdair Gold saw the funny side, branding the Welshman with a 5/10 match rating but quizzing why he was permitted the full 90 after such frenzied celebrations only days earlier, bundling in the only goal against United on Wednesday.
Like Johnson, Lucas liked to make a key contribution on the continental scene for Tottenham, miraculously scoring that hat-trick to send Mauricio Pochettino's side through to the Champions League final way back when, but he lacked consistency, and that's something Ange's star needs to work on.
Underscoring this, the Wales international has only netted in three of his past 20 Premier League games, emphasising an up-and-down nature that Lucas carried through his career in English football too.
The good thing is Johnson can be afforded some leeway, of course, after his goal on Wednesday night, but he still saw a chance go begging after being played into space and struggled to impose himself, albeit working hard defensively, making two clearances as he found himself hemmed in the defensive third, as per Sofascore.
Johnson also completed only nine of his 17 attempted passes, a success rate of just 53%, failed to make a dribble, failed with all three attempted passes from range, and didn't even attempt a trademark dribble.
Still only 24, mind, he's got plenty of time to hone his talent and reach the level those around him know he is capable of.
One thing's for sure: he has already left a bigger legacy than his Brazilian positional peer and could reach higher still with a few improvements over the coming season.