Rafael Marquez did something pretty grotesque as Barcelona mullered Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter finals.
The Mexican refused to take a free kick until he received a yellow card for timewasting, which ruled him out of the routine second leg at the Allianz Arena, with the tie already won.
With a clean disciplinary slate, the defender could look forward to a pressure-free run in the competition - except he collapsed in agony, unchallenged, against Chelsea at Camp Nou and now sits out the crucial second leg anyway.
As Cristiano Ronaldo accepted in his post-match interview at Emirates Stadium, that's football. Rather than add to the outcry surrounding Darren Fletcher's red card, the Portuguese star opted to accept that fate always has the final say.
I am always keen to point out that referees are only human when they make mistakes but Roberto Rosetti showed no such humanity with time running down in the one-sided encounter in North London.
The Italian official wrongly declared Fletcher had fouled Cesc Fabregas and then produced the red card that rules the hard-working Scot out of the final. It came at a time when United had assumed total control and were strolling past the shell-shocked Gunners.
After another lung-busting performance of honesty and endeavour from the midfielder, it was a devastating blow - particularly given the context of the tie. If it was a blatant foul then, of course, he deserved punishment but it was hardly clear-cut and it would appear as though the right to an appeal may even be denied.
So fate decrees that Fletcher will not take part in Rome's showpiece event. Park Ji-sung will trust that his contribution in the capital on Tuesday night will ensure Sir Alex Ferguson does not leave him out of the squad again come May 27 but nobody will be counting their chickens just yet.
Other United players could pick up injuries in the title run-in, which still requires maximum effort, to wreck their hopes of appearing in the final.
Nicolas Anelka, Michael Ballack, Alex, Daniel Alves and Sergio Busquets If he plays) are all walking a disciplinary tightrope on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge, knowing their dreams could be shattered in a second.
But that is football, as Ronaldo stated. Players cannot go into matches pulling out of tackles or not playing their natural game.
Ferguson will feel he was right to withdraw Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra and not to risk Carlos Tevez.
However, as the Marquez situation illustrates, trying to influence the fickle finger of fate may not always be enough.