Reigning Spanish champions Barcelona got off to an unimpressive start to the new season when they were held to a 0-0 draw by newly-promoted Alaves on Saturday.
To add the frustration of Barca coach Frank Rijkaard, the man responsible for denying the Spanish giants victory, Alaves' Argentine goalkeeper Roberto Bonano, was told 20 months ago that he was not wanted at the Catalan club.
Bonano, who spent two-and-a-half miserable seasons at Barca until January 2004, pulled off a series of spectacular saves to salvage a point for the Basque club.
He thwarted good efforts by Samuel Eto'o and Ludovic Giuly during the first half, and after the break, carried on where he left off.
Ronaldinho looked set to score on two occasions in the opening minutes of the second half but Bonano added the World Player of the Year to the list of opponents unable to get past him.
The Brazilian hit the post after 51 minutes, the one occasion when Bonano was beaten, but Ronaldinho's near-miss was to be the closest Barcelona came to scoring.
Bonano continued to make it a bad night for Barca with a host of crucial stops, including a couple from former European Golden Boot Henrik Larsson, who came on midway through the second half for Giuly.
It was sweet revenge for Bonano over his former club.
He had to bear the brunt of the Catalan club's fans anger for their failure to win a trophy during his time at the Nou Camp from the summer of 2001 until his departure, when Rijkaard finally showed him the door.
At the other end, Alaves' strikers themselves looked more likely to find the net as the game progressed.
Increasingly, perhaps frustrated by their inability to take control of the game, Barca began to lose their concentration and the defence had several nervous moments late in the game when Alaves could have got a late goal.
Rodolfo Bodipo hit post on counter-attack after 74 minutes, connecting with a pinpoint Enrique De Lucas pass, and Wesley also went close for the home side.
Barcelona will now be looking carefully at how their eternal rivals Real Madrid perform on Sunday at last season's second division champions Cadiz.
The squad travelling down to the south of Spain includes England's Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate.
Owen has been included despite the ongoing saga over the possible sale to his old club Liverpool.
Woodgate, who missed the whole of last season with injuries to his left thigh, could be among the substitutes despite his match practice being limited to two recent games against Real's youth teams and five minutes' action in a friendly.
Real are still lacking cover for first-choice central defenders Francisco Pavon and Ivan Helguera, which means Woodgate is still part of coach Wanderley Luxemburgo's plans.