Barcelona wanted a European Super League in which teams could never be relegated - a life-long pass into what would have been football's new premier European competition. The reality they woke up to on Thursday morning is that, on merit, they no longer belong to that upper tier of club football.
Coach Xavi Hernandez knows what it's like to play in the Europa League. He was a Barcelona player back in 2003 when they were last in the competition. They were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Celtic after losing 1-0 in Glasgow and drawing 0-0 in the Camp Nou. That serves as a reminder that they will not find it easy stepping down a level.
Winning the competition would see them back in the Champions League next season but not many of the club's supporters believe they can do that. Maybe things will have changed by the time European football restarts next February.
Gerard Pique's face sums up Barcelona's mood as they crashed out of the Champions League
Barca were dumped out of the competition group stages after losing 3-0 at Bayern Munich
Barcelona boss Xavi now has to contend with the Europa League knockout stages in February
If Ansu Fati and Pedri are back, fit and flying again then their prospects will be better but they have learned over the last three months that banking on the fitness of key players carrying injuries brings few guarantees.
Next Monday's draw will be a difficult day for them, stuck in the cheap seats after years of being front-row prime position. That's when they will find out who they face. West Ham have won their group so will not be going to the Camp Nou in the next round. Possible rivals include Rangers, PSV, Spartak Moscow, Lazio, Braga and Dynamo Kiev.
The question of whether they will give the competition their best or see it as something beneath them is easily answered: they have a financial obligation to take it seriously.
The financial rewards from winning it are nothing compared with those given to teams who do well in the Champions League but the £12.9million or so will still be welcomed. The final is on home soil at Sevilla's Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium and if they win it they will also have a clear passage into next season's Champions League.
But the mood after Wednesday night's second mauling of the season at the hands of Bayern Munich is that over two legs there are too many teams likely to get the better of them and that reviving domestic fortunes and overtaking Real Sociedad to grab fourth place behind the two big Madrid clubs
