Liverpool owner John W Henry came to Anfield on Thursday expecting to witness a magical European night spearheaded by the man he spent £35 million to sign in January.
Instead, he saw Liverpool eliminated from the Europa League at the last 16 stage by Braga after producing a listless performance that once again raises questions about the quality of the squad.
The likelihood is that we are unlikely to see Liverpool in Europe again any time soon, with qualification for the Europa League a tough task that will probably require finishing fifth in the league by catching Tottenham, who sit six points ahead of Kenny Dalglish's side with a game in hand.
At the start of the season, many Reds fans were ready to write the season off and concentrate on ridding the club of its American owners.
With the ownership issue finally resolved, attention turned to events on the pitch. A topsy-turvy few months saw the Reds turn from a relegation-threatened bunch of no-hopers under Roy Hodgson to European contenders under Kenny Daglish.
But in between some encouraging displays, the weaknesses in the Scot's squad have been regularly exposed – and on Thursday night Henry was given a first-hand demonstration.
The painful reality for the Liverpool owner is that this squad needs major investment in three or four players of the quality of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, who cost a combined fee of £57.8m in the January transfer window.
Carroll made his first start for the club here after returning from a thigh problem – and in the early stages his strength, power and aerial threat caused Liverpool's Portuguese opponents some serious problems.
But while the qualities he will offer the squad were clear, the 22-year-old grew ever more frustrated as Liverpool failed to work out how to get the best from him, prompting the Geordie to eventually kick a Braga defender four feet into the air.
The Reds increasingly turned to long, aimless punts towards the big Geordie rather than produce the sleek passing football that brought a memorable victory over Manchester United in their last league outing at Anfield.
What Carroll desperately needed was some width, some quality delivery into the box from out wide, but the Reds lacked any penetration, with Joe Cole once again virtually anonymous after a bright first 10 minutes.
“Andy Carroll stayed on longer than we hoped he would have to,” reflected Dalglish on his striker's performance. “Necessity meant he stayed on the pitch because we needed the goal.
“He's got tremendous assets he can offer and we have assets that he can learn from as well.
“We're not at all disappointed with his performance, he was unlucky not to score. I think he can be very pleased with how he played.”
The reality is that Liverpool never showed any signs that they were capable of winning the Europa League this season.
And unless Manchester City win the FA Cup and finish fifth, Liverpool have only a slim chance of having another crack next season.
A lack of European football will not only dent the coffers, but it will make it harder to attract the vibrant young players the club so badly need to win games like this.
Braga came into the game with a 1-0 lead from the first leg and were quite happy to park the bus and ask Liverpool to break them down.
The home side started well, with Cole hitting a snapshot on target and Carroll heading just wide, but the last 75 minutes of the game was painful viewing for the Kop as they watched a group of players completely shorn of ideas.
The final whistle was greeted by little more than a shrug of the shoulders by most at Anfield, who had waited for a late rally that never came, who understood that the team was way below par in both games against a side that only occupy a mid-table position in Portugal.
It was fitting that Liverpool's Europa League campaign should end with their fifth goalless draw in the competition. It was equally appropriate that Henry was there to see that his work is far from done, that splashing £35m on one player will not restore former glories.
Henry will just be wondering how much it might cost him.
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