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Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez is not a nice guy. How do we know this? Well, during an Espanyol-Barcelona match earlier this season, he stamped on Lionel Messi in an off-the-ball incident.
He didn't shy away from the controversy in the lead-up to yesterday's all-important league clash between Barcelona and Espanyol. "I don't know who will win La Liga, but I want it to be a Madrid team," Lopez said. "It doesn't matter to me which one."
During that match, he had a little kick out at someone who is also probably not such a nice man either - Luis Suarez. This was comparatively tame, but still worth noting given the precedent. Suarez reached and Pau tripped. Begin tension.
But never mind that - there was an actual match going on.
Messi sent the first warning with a sumptuous free kick that Pau only got his fingertips to. 1-0 to the Blaugrana and the league title that much closer.
Luis Suarez got his revenge - scoring the 2-0 goal and staring down Pau, then scoring the 3-0 goal.
But the moment Barcelona fans particularly enjoyed was Rafinha's goal that made it 4-0.
Tremendo error de Pau que le deja en bandeja el gol a @rafinha #LaLiga https://t.co/CaWw1z6xx5
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) May 8, 2016
A mishit pass from Neymar dropped softly towards Pau. He probably didn't even need to intervene, the ball was going to roll out of bounds wide for a goalkick. Instead, Pau dove for it but made a complete mess of it, letting it spill directly into the path of Rafinha.
The Brazilian laughed as he couldn't believe his luck. In fact, if not for Pau slowing the ball down, it's extremely likely Rafinha wouldn't have been able to get to it. Pau actually did worse than having no keeper at all.
Barcelona would win 5-0 against Espanyol, putting them one win away from the La Liga crown. While Barcelona fans are sure to enjoy this bit of misfortune hitting a player they disliked, it's worth noting that Suarez and Pau seemed to make up as the game went along.
Pau said it was expected for a derby to have some "intensity" and that it was all over once they left the pitch. Meanwhile, epic troll master and also defender Gerard Pique was gracious. "Pau had bad luck, that can happen," Pique said. "His mistake wasn't decisive."