Four goals, a red card, tormenting Real Madrid. Diego Costa was back. That was the rather giddy, general reaction to Atletico Madrid's 7-3 win over Los Blancos in New Jersey in July.
Now, one of Diego Simeone's must trusted allies finds himself behind Alvaro Morata and Angel Correa in the Rojiblancos pecking order. All that with Joao Felix on the sidelines as well.
Correa and Morata have been finding the net relatively frequently in the past couple of weeks and, after Costa was rested against Athletic Club, he found himself on the bench against Sevilla on Saturday.
The Brazilian-born striker has netted just twice this season, with one of those coming from the penalty spot and, considering he's featured 13 times, those figures are certainly a cause for concern.
Costa missed Atletico's first two fixtures of the current campaign through suspension. Simeone's side were by no means firing on all cylinders during those opening games, but they picked up a maximum of six points.
Costa's return to the starting line-up coincided with a crazy comeback victory over Eibar in which he provided an assist for Joao Felix's first Atletico goal.
Nine starts and just two goals later, Costa was left out against Athletic Club as Saul and Morata secured a 2-0 win.
Atletico have lost just once this season, away at Real Sociedad in August in a match which Costa started, but they've drawn several games as well.
Costa played from the start during stalemates with Celta Vigo, Real Madrid, Real Valladolid, Deportivo and Valencia, with the first three of those all ending goalless.
It was much the same last season. Injuries and suspension meant that Costa played 16 of Atletico's 38 LaLiga Santander matches, with only half of those outings ending in victory for Simeone's men.
A backlog of injuries clogged up Costa's chances of finding consistency in the previous campaign but, if he can stay fit in the next few months, there's proof in his past that he can get back amongst the goals.
When at Chelsea in 2015/16, he suffered a slump in form, and by the end of October, Costa had scored just two goals in nine Premier League appearances - almost identical numbers to the current campaign with Atletico - before going on to net a total of 12 goals in 28 appearances by May.
Those 12 goals won Chelsea an extra 14 points on their own as the Blues climbed from 16th to 10th by the end of the campaign.
In the games that he did find the net in, Chelsea won seven, including a 1-0 win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, drew three and lost just one. Costa doesn't just score goals, he scores important ones.
It's no exaggeration to say that, with Morata scoring regularly as well, adding an extra 12 goals and the subsequent points to go with them to this Atletico team could see them clinch their second LaLiga Santander title under Simeone.
With 21 points from their first 12 games, Atletico are on course to finish on a final tally of 66 points. Due to Barcelona and Real Madrid's slow starts, anywhere between 73 and 79 should be able to win you the title.
There was evidence of the positive influence he can have on the team at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan after coming on for Thomas Lemar at half time.
A disallowed goal and a missed penalty weren't exactly ideal contributions, but they were proof that this particular poacher is still a threat up front.
Falling out of Simeone's starting line-up isn't the end of the world for Costa because, as his time in the Premier League showed, he's more than capable of overcoming setbacks.