The Brazilian rubbed salt into Catalan wounds and help kick-start this tumultuous period of self-reflection, sacking and chaos.
Club president Josep Bartomeu said that the future of Philippe Coutinho will be up to the next head coach, who is thought to be former Southampton and Everton manager Ronald Koeman.
Rise
His stock was sitting at rock bottom having bombed out of his two campaigns at Barca and his current loan spell with Bayern Munich, until he was introduced to their game against Barcelona in the Champions League and assisted once before scoring twice.
Helping to destroy the club that pays his wages will have made them sit up and take notice, while the clean-out that Barcelona need to have this summer could make way for Coutinho to star.
Fresh
They are a team of ageing icons and need to freshen up, but they also need to provide some legitimacy to their transfer dealings. Coutinho was a huge outlay, as was Ousmane Dembele - and the former has been named as one of the ‘non-transferable’ players by Bartomeu.
This seems surprising given Dembele’s lack of game time and behavioural issues. He played only five games this season, but if the olive branch is being extended to La Liga’s biggest tearaway, it should be extended to the man who helped tear Barcelona apart.
Reversal
It would be a fine turnaround for Coutinho, and is talent deserves to be shown off on the biggest stage with Barcelona. He is truly elite, and his demise has been one of Europe’s biggest conundrums.
From a purely financial point of view, this move makes sense. Few teams are going to be willing to burden themselves with his massive wage bill, while Barca won’t get anywhere near what they paid for him.
It might have been sparked by just one game, but this could be the best thing that happens to Coutinho and Barcelona.