Jadon Sancho could have come on and been dismissed sooner than Steven Gerrard and Manchester United would still want to sign him.
BT Sport dedicated a feature to Sancho just before their coverage of the Bundesliga restart began and will have been particularly relieved by the England international's arrival in the 79th minute.
Sancho had been hampered in the week by an injury though this was never going to be an audition ahead of a possible transfer in the next window.
The confirmation Sancho was a substitute for the Bundesliga's restart was anti-climactic and by the time of his emergence Borussia Dortmund had reduced a training ground-style game to a training ground-style exercise.