When the team-sheets were announced for the Champions League second-leg clash at the Camp Nou, head coach Ernesto Valverde had one trick up his sleeve: 20-year-old forward Ousmane Dembele.
Plagued by injuries in his first few months in Barcelona, the Frenchman has slowly been building his confidence back up, culminating in his start for 'Los Cules' in their Catalonia Supercup victory over Espanyol in which he was chosen to lead the line.
Following that performance, Valverde decided to throw him into the European cauldron - Barcelona's make-or-break Round of 16 clash against Chelsea, with the score finely posied at 1-1 - and he didn't disappoint.
Team-mate Lionel Messi may have grabbed the headlines with a brace to kill off the Premier League outfit's dreams of progressing to the quarter-finals, but Dembele was just as important for the Catalan giants.
With the score tipped in Barca's favour thanks to a Messi goal in the 3rd minute, Chelsea were knocking on the door, desperate for an equaliser. The home side were instead patient, waiting for their chance to pounce, which they do so clinically.
Messi won possession following a blocked shot from the 'Blues', racing into the box before squaring it to Dembele, who emphatically fired his shot high and above Thibaut Courtois and into the back of the net for his first Barca goal.
However, his shining moment would come just after the half-time break, and it wasn't for his attacking prowess.
The visitors came out of the blocks eager to pull a goal back and keep their hopes of causing an upset alive. Olivier Giroud played Marcos Alonso through brilliantly on the overlap and the Spanish full-back looked to have a free shot on goal until Dembele slid in with a last-ditch challenge to push the ball out for a corner.
It was perfectly timed and showed how much of an asset he can be to Barcelona, both in attack and defence, something which Valverde will undoubtedly turn to as his side chase their dreams of a treble into the final few months of the season.
For the young Frenchman, he will certainly look back on this match as one of his career-defining performances.