Everton were slumped on their stool ahead of the final round of the season when their venerable old coach delivered one last rallying cry.
Carlo Ancelotti smeared vaseline over their swollen face, shoved the gumshield back in, looked them in the eyes and told his players: 'We are still in the fight'.
It was said all in the hope of inspiring an unlikely victory. One not achieved here in almost a decade.
The Blues, also needing favours from elsewhere, had a puncher's chance against the champion, but little else.
After all, they had found their way into the possibility of qualifying for Europe on the last day through an ability to soak up punishment, because of their bravery and by crudely slugging away at opponents on the road.
This had not been a season of the sweet school of science.
And, in the end, a limited Everton were left chasing shadows. Manchester City, the classy operator, picked them off with ease. The Blues would hardly lay a glove.
But it wasn't the blows landed by Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden and Sergio Aguero on a humiliating final session of the season, but others, that inflicted the real damage.
It was Tomas Soucek's sucker-punch, Callum Wilson's one-two, a couple of digs to the ribs from Josh Maja and a stinging jab from Daniel Jebbison that really slowed Everton down.
The Blues didn't miss out on Europe because of this sorry defeat at the Etihad, they lost it 36 miles down the road at Goodison.
Who would've thought it? Home form usually props up Everton's seasons.
The Blues had done well to hear the final bell, given they had been bludgeoned at home eight times, but it all caught up with them in the end.
Deep down, as he sent them out for the last time, Ancelotti will have known this too.
And as it turned out, the Blues wouldn't get any of those helping hands they would have needed in order to be in with a chance of finishing seventh and qualifying for the Europa Conference League.
Spurs would twice fight back to defeat Leicester City while wins for Arsenal and Leeds United ensured the hope for better actually resulted in worse, with Everton falling to 10 th on goal difference.
A season that began with a brief stint at the top, and then recovered with the team going fourth in March, would end just inside the top half of the table after a pummelling.
And the permutations, of which there were many before kick-off, didn't look like hanging around for long when City went 2-0 ahead in the space of three first-half minutes.
The permutations stood at the top of the stairs, watched Gylfi Sigurdsson's penalty be saved, and then headed for the exits, 10 minutes before half-time. They weren't taking their seat for the second-half, they were needed elsewhere. Everton's fate was already sealed.
City added a third after the break before the Blues rolled out the red carpet for Aguero to score, twice, on his farewell to the Etihad. The fight had long since left them, even if they were, just about, still on their feet at the end.
So the target for the season was missed. Europe proved too much of a stretch, with the Blues falling three points – and 25 goals – short of seventh placed Spurs.
So is the season a failure? In those black and white terms, yes, of course it is. And right now, as we fester on a humbling afternoon, that emotion will not go away any time soon. You cannot escape the feeling that Everton missed an opportunity too. A big one to kick-start Ancelotti's Everton reign with a spot in Europe. You could see the regret – laced with embarrassment – as they trudged off at the end.
But the real embarrassment came at Goodison, not here, even if it was a painful afternoon.
Yet it is vital to hold onto the wider picture too. Everton have improved since last season. The Blues are 10 points and two places better off than last term - “quite happy” was how Ancelotti summed up his feelings – and have the foundations to build.
But....they have to build. How many times have we thought, written, or said it with meaning, that 'it's a big summer'.
If we try and remove ourselves from this final day's batting, then we can see that Ancelotti has a squad of players who are, largely. made of the right stuff to get results away from home.
Sure, the Blues have over-exceeded with 11 wins from 19 but those victories were based on the fundamentals – determination, organisation and the like - traits that are in-built.
At home, Everton have woefully under-performed and it's because they haven't had the quality to break down the stubborn defences.
Ancelotti will believe that can be remedied with an injection of two or three new players. Let's hope for three, ey?
Because Everton can still be in the fight next season by using their ability to take punches and keep coming, by making it ugly and dragging their opponents into the trenches, but they also have to be able to go on the offensive, pick off their rivals as they were picked off today, and land knockout blows more often at Goodison.
Do that and at this point next season, Ancelotti won't need to apply the vaseline over a battered face or issue a rallying cry but, rather, tell Everton to keep it long and see out the points victory they had long since earned.
