Big-spending Paris St. Germain kept to their side of the bargain by winning 2-1 at Lorient on Sunday night, but Carlo Ancelotti's men still fell short of title glory.
Knowing they needed to win and Montpellier lose at Auxerre in order to lift the Ligue 1 trophy, they thought they were on their way when news trickled through that their rivals had fallen behind.
Montpellier would quickly equalize and PSG fall behind to Kevin Monnet-Paquet's goal, but the stakes were raised once more as Javier Pastore and Thiago Motta put PSG ahead.
That was initially bad news for Lorient, whose safety was not assured heading into the night, but owing to results elsewhere, they survived by a point.
That meant that with the Auxerre game held up by crowd trouble, the PSG players were forced to endure an agonizing wait to see if the already-relegated side would do them a favor and score a winner while Lorient's players celebrated.
Auxerre would not deliver, though, with the vital goal actually coming from Montpellier, and Ancelotti and his players were left to reflect on a season that had promised so much but failed to deliver.
They were not to know that at kick-off, however, which made their lackluster start so surprising.
Lorient were the first to threaten through Joel Campbell's 25-yard free-kick which flew wide, and it was of little surprise when the home side took the lead 28 minutes in.
Lucas Mareque was the provider, swinging in a cross that Monnet-Pacquet got to first to head home.
That woke PSG up and Pastore twice went close, first being denied by Jeremie Janot and then hitting the bar with a well-worked lob.
Crowd trouble was not confined to Auxerre either as PSG's fans launched flares on to the field, prompting a minor delay.
But when the players returned to the field, it was PSG who impressed, showing no ill-effects of the enforced stoppage.
Guillaume Hoarau turned and shot in the area and shaved the post, the effort a precursor to Pastore's 61st-minute equalizer as the striker tucked Nene's cross away after his initial header had hit the upright.
Campbell did his best to mount an immediate response with a 25-yarder that skipped over, but PSG were the next to score as Thiago headed home from 12 yards out after Nene's 75th-minute cross.
There would be no more chances, and all that was remaining was for PSG's agony to be played out in full.
