Being realistic, Gothenburg was a long way away. I have said since last season that beating teams like Stuttgart, Liverpool, Boavista and Barcelona is punching above our weight. We have faced so many great European sides over the past few years but Villarreal must be put down as one of, if not the best.
Tonight, it was simple. Injuries and suspensions went against us but we were well beaten by a better team. Celtic played as well as we could have asked for with a depleted side, but the team's heroics were not enough.
Already missing John Kennedy and John Hartson through long-term injuries, the last news we needed to start the night was that of another injury. Surprising us all, Chris Sutton failed a fitness test two hours before kick off, and was ruled out of the match. Hindsight allows some to scorn Martin O'Neill for playing Sutton against Livingston last Sunday, but it also allowed those narrow-minded fans to have a go at the boss for not fielding his strongest team against Inverness last season.
With Alan Thompson suspended, Stephen Pearson played on the left-hand side, and in came Liam Miller. Joos Valgaeren played in a makeshift back four of himself, Varga, Balde and McNamara - a defence who have never played together as a four.
We knew we had to get at least a goal, and Stan Petrov done his best partnering Larsson up-front. But Sutton's injury proved the be a real killer.
The Spaniards put themselves into the lead after only 5 minutes, through Sonny Anderson. Celtic's defending was at its worse as communication between Balde, Varga and Marshall seemed to be non-existent. A Jose Mari cross was placed in between Varga and Balde, it met Anderson who headed over Marshall, who looked too far off his goalline. Balde seemed to anticipate Varga was going to clear the danger, but Varga never shouted. Balde was static, never even attempted to head the ball away, and must yet again be blamed.
Villarreal could have finished the tie in the first half but Jose Mari blasted over the bar. Celtic never created one chance in the opening 45 minutes. Varga had a free-kick which failed to get past the wall, and Jackie McNamara had a soft claim for a penalty turned down.
But Celtic were immproving, and continued to do so after the restart. Agathe - for the first time in the whole tie - managed to get down the wing and cross to Larsson, who was unlucky in the area.
Bobo Balde was the hero for the moment when a last gasp tackle on Sonny Anderson stopped the tie from ending at that time.
But Celtic were giving the ball away far too easily, and never looked like creating anything. Villarreal added a second goal on the night, on 68 minutes. Bobo Balde was once again at fault. His stupid lunge when there was no evident danger opened up a gap, a cross was put across the face of goal, and Roger blasted home past the helpless Marshall. Joos Valgaeren didn't even bother to challenge Roger - his time at Celtic is surely up. He is too slow and is a total liability.
A look at the bench confirmed our fears - we were out of the UEFA Cup. The hopeless pairing of Jamie Smith and Ross Wallace were brought on as a last throw of the dice, Smith seemed keen and done more runnning than Agathe did over the 90 minutes. His application also must be looked at.
Without wanting to criticise the team too much, individual errors have cost us once again. But we must be proud of our players. Tonight wasn't our night, we were beaten by a better side, and I hope they win the tournament.
We now have to look ahead. New faces are needed in the summer and the Champions League awaits. Oh, and did someone say something about a title party on Sunday?
Keep the faith.
Celtic:
Marshall - 7
Balde - 6
Varga - 7
Valgaeren - 5
McNamara - 9
Lennon - 9
Petrov - 8
Pearson - 7 (Smith - 6)
Agathe - 6
Miller - 7 (Wallace - 4)
Larsson - 8
Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Jackie McNamara
Celtic-Mad Moment to Remember: The spirit and the 'never say die' attitude of Neil Lennon, Jackie McNamara and Henrik Larsson.
Celtic-Mad Moment to Forget: The woeful defending.