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Udinese bowed out of their first ever Champions League campaign after their 2-0 home defeat to Barcelona but they can take pride from holding their own in the elite competition.
Had it not been for two goals in the last five minutes of Wednesday's game, the north-east Italian club would have been celebrating another milestone in their progress from a Serie B also-ran to a member of the Italian elite.
Instead German club Werder Bremen took second spot in the group leaving Udinese to the more familiar terrain of the UEFA Cup.
Coach Serse Cosmi said he would take some time before drawing any lessons from his team's exit and he had some justification in blaming injury problems for the loss to a weakened Barcelona side, who had little to play for having already secured top spot in the group.
But the fact that fitness problems had such an influence on Cosmi's plans that he was forced to field three players, including striker Vincenzo Iaquinta, who were far from fully fit tells its own story.
Unlike the three Italian teams who did make it to the last 16, champions Juventus, six-times European champions AC Milan and their city rivals Inter, Udinese do not have the size of squad needed to maintain a challenge on two fronts.
In fact, their Champions League experience has been at the cost of points in Serie A where Udinese are currently adrift in mid-table having focused heavily on their European adventure.
Inter were able to pick up a creditable draw at Glasgow Rangers on Tuesday, fielding a virtual second string side having already qualified while AC Milan and Juventus have regularly left players of the pedigree of Alessandro Del Piero and Rui Costa on the bench.
If Udinese wish to be regular contenders in the Champions League they will have to address the size of their first team squad but adding another half dozen elite quality players to their squad would require the kind of investment the club is either unable or unwilling to make.
In terms of more modest improvements, the defeat to Barca in particular exposed the absence of a midfield general in Cosmi's squad.
Last season's successful Serie A season which ended with a fourth-placed finish, was based on attractive football masterminded by Chilean midfielder David Pizarro.
But the little playmaker was sold to Inter Milan in the close season and has not been truly replaced with the result that Udinese have increasingly relied on long balls to Iaquinta and bursts down the flanks.
In Champions League games, such as Wednesday's, where controlling possession and forging openings is the only way to break down a quality defence, Udinese have proved lacking.
Their direct style was good enough to defeat Panithinaikos and also to cause Werder some problems but it was never going to be a worry for the classy Spanish side.
Cosmi has relished testing his tactical skills against the best of Europe and hopes he and his team will get another chance.
"It is a big blow [to go out] but it has been an extraordinary experience for us.
"I hope that these fans and this club will always be in the position of being five minutes away from qualifying for the last sixteen of this competition," he said.
To be in that position next year, Udinese will have to start climbing up the Serie A league table, a more mundane task which will start at Lecce on Sunday.
