Kvicha Kvaratskhelia was visibly furious and the Napoli fans audibly grumbled as the Georgian was substituted early into the Champions League tie with Barcelona.
The Partenopei were trailing 1-0 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to a Robert Lewandowski goal and had not managed a single shot, let alone one on target.
It therefore came as a surprise when new coach Francesco Calzona decided to take Kvaratskhelia off to introduce Jesper Lindstrom at the 68th minute.
This had happened quite a few times under predecessors Rudi Garcia and Walter Mazzarri, though even then not quite so early into such a big match.
Kvaratskhelia certainly looked surprised as he stormed off the field and marched around the athletics track to get back to the bench.
He did not appear to shake hands with Calzona as he sat down.
The crowd also jeered as Jens Cajuste was replaced by January signing Hamed Junior Traore.
La prima mossa a sorpresa di Calzona: Kvaratskhelia sostituito a venti minuti dalla fine#NapoliBarcellona https://t.co/ZYHUYE4WMC
— GOAL Italia (@GoalItalia) February 21, 2024