There will not have been many football fans who expected the highest drama of the Champions League's opening night to come from the meeting of Lazio and Atletico Madrid in Rome.
On a night which saw exciting matchups between the likes of PSG and Borussia Dortmund, or AC Milan and Newcastle United, two sides known for their ruthless defensive excellence might not have piqued the interest of many neutrals.
And, for the most part, they would have been correct, as a largely uneventful game seemed to be meandering towards Atletico snatching a crucial away victory on opening night in Rome.
Atletico took the lead just before the half-hour mark, with Spanish midfielder Pablo Barrios scoring his first Champions League goal to put his side 1-0 up at the Stadio Olimpico.
As the game ticked into injury time, it seemed as though 1-0 would be the final score, before Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel popped up with the most dramatic moment of the opening round of Champions League games in sensational style.
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Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel equalises with last touch of game v Atletico
The clock had ticked well past the five minutes added on by referee Slavko Vincic when Lazio retained possession from a corner in their push for a last-gasp equaliser.
With just about every Lazio player - including goalkeeper Ivan Provedel - crowding the Atletico box, one last hopeful cross was pumped in.
Up stepped Provedel who met the ball from Luis Alberto thanks to a sensationally well-time run into the area and nodded past counterpart Jan Oblak to snatch a point for Lazio with the final touch of the ball.
LAZIO KEEPER IVAN PROVEDEL SCORES IN THE 95TH MINUTE!!! 🤯
THE LAST TOUCH OF THE GAME!
WHAT THE #UCL IS ALL ABOUT 👏 pic.twitter.com/dmEBffFIEi— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 19, 2023
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The final whistle followed seconds later, with Provedel rescuing a draw for his side in astonishing fashion on a memorable night for the Lazio goalkeeper.
Provedel was awarded Serie A's Best Goalkeeper award last season but, on Tuesday night's evidence, the 29-year-old Italian might be playing out of position at the wrong end of the pitch.
In fact, it was not the first time Provedel has scored in his career. The Lazio 'keeper previously scored a similar last-gasp equaliser for Juve Stabia against Ascoli in Serie B in February of 2020 (h/t to Italian football journalist Giuseppe Pastore for this spot on Twitter).
In #LazioAtleticoMadrid SECONDO GOL IN CARRIERA per Ivan Provedel, dopo quello in Ascoli-Juve Stabia 2-2 di Serie B, 7 febbraio 2020! pic.twitter.com/igRRmg1J8l
— Giuseppe Pastore (@gippu1) September 19, 2023
In the other game in Group E on Tuesday night, Celtic endured a nightmare in Rotterdam, as they were reduced to nine-men in a comfortable 2-0 defeat to Dutch champions Feyenoord at De Kuip.
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