Fede Valverde needed less than 30 minutes in Athens. Thrown on as a substitute, he reorganised the midfield and became Real Madrid's biggest creator of chances in the match with a tally of three, while piling on the pressure, before unleashing a rocket from around 25 metres that flew into Brignoli's net with tremendous power.
According to the Spanish newspaper "AS", that was the royal side's third goal, sealing a seventh consecutive win and sustaining the happy mood at Valdebebas. It also moved Real Madrid one step closer to cementing their place among the top eight, and it brought the Uruguayan star memories of the old days, when he shone in midfield under Carlo Ancelotti and scored wonderful goals like this one.
Ancelotti was among the first coaches to use Valverde at full-back, during the closing minutes of a Champions League match against Sheriff Tiraspol in 2021.
Reality soon bit, though. Despite the praise José Mourinho lavished on Valverde during the press conference at Real Madrid's city, when he said: "He is an excellent professional, a friend to his team-mates, and although he is not a voice heard every second, he is always present as a role model for everyone", the Uruguayan will line up against Valencia at right-back, the position in which he has begun to shine and help his team deliver better levels.
A man with vast football experience but even greater gifts as a psychologist, Mourinho has convinced Valverde to adapt gradually to the role.
Neither Trent Alexander-Arnold nor Dumfries has convinced the coach so far. The English player did not perform poorly in Santander, and the Dutch full-back is fresh off a decisive pass against AEK, yet Mourinho sees that Valverde in this position gives the rest of the team greater freedom to shine, and that is something to exploit.
Switching Valverde's position came at an ideal time physically, and the benefits reached beyond him. The rest of the squad now have an extra card that shapes the movements of both team-mates and opponents in clear, logical ways.
The first signs showed against Sevilla. On his first start at right-back, Valverde delivered an outstanding performance: six ball recoveries, five duels won to make him the team's most dominant player in that respect, three interceptions, two clearances and one shot blocked by a defender.
His level has not dipped since, and his earlier words in Almaty now feel like ancient history. Back then he denied any row with his coach at the time, Xabi Alonso, over being played at full-back, saying: "I was not born to play at full-back".
Mourinho has owned and fixed his own mistake. Having previously insisted Valverde would never play there under him, he found a lethal weapon in his hands and chose to keep relying on him, drawing on his own psychological touch with the player and on the big step the Uruguayan took to strengthen unity and rally the group around a single idea.
Valverde sums up the message like this: "When we all work together and move in the same direction, we become stronger. And as the team's captain, I took the step everyone was waiting for from me, and I provide a role model for my team-mates".
Mourinho, for his part, held the player up as a model of commitment, a signal that this project rolls on and will not stop. It starts again tonight against Valencia, where Valverde returns to full-back at the Mestalla.