From the verge of history to utter heartbreak. The heroes of Celtic pushed Bayern Munich to the very limit on their own patch, before a devastating, last-gasp gut-punch from Alphonso Davies brought their Champions League adventure to the cruellest of finales.
The final mission statement from Brendan Rodgers to his players before what looked to be the almost impossible task that lay ahead of them in overcoming Bayern Munich in the spectacular, imposing Allianz Arena was simple – no regrets.
But oh, how there may well be just a few lingering in their systems after an incredibly gallant effort in Bavaria, and how a few of the men in green who have so much reason to hold their heads up high, may nonetheless find sleep hard to come by when their heads eventually hit the pillow upon their return to Glasgow.
What there should be more than anything though is immense pride. Celtic started this Champions League campaign in this very country like startled rabbits in the bright yellow headlights of Borussia Dortmund, but ended it by returning to Germany and showing everyone just how much they had learned along the way.
They were calm and composed in possession. They were organised and cohesive in their shape and in their pressing. They were focused and diligent in their defending. They were incredibly hard done by, in the end.
The one big regret is that they didn’t reward themselves for all that good work early on by being ruthless in their finishing, carving out more opportunities in the opening quarter of an hour – and clear-cut ones at that – than they may have expected to over the course of the entire match.
Given how the relentless energy of Daizen Maeda had reshaped the final stages of the first leg at Celtic Park when he was shunted through the middle, it was no surprise to see Rodgers deploy him there from the start here, with Jota brought in on the left.
Clearly, Rodgers himself didn’t want to have any cause for regret having not been bold, and with Kuhn rounding off a dynamic front three, there was no lack of belief that they could cause the hosts problems.
And boy, how they did.
Maeda, aided and abetted by the high-pressing Reo Hatate, was straight on the front foot, buzzing around Kim Min-jae and blocking his attempted clearance.
They were backed up by their captain, with Callum McGregor smothering Michael Olise and forcing him to cough up the ball in the midfield. He exchanged a one-two with Maeda, and suddenly, was scarpering through towards Manuel Neuer.
McGregor has made a habit of scoring from range this season, but this time, he hadn’t quite tuned in his sights just yet, and fired high and wide of the target.
Still, it was an encouraging early sign, and soon, Celtic carved out an even better opportunity as Jota showed what he can bring to the party. The winger showed great feet to skin Josip Stanisic, got his head up and picked out Kuhn at the back post.
The former Bayern prospect took a touch, and with Neuer bearing down on him, poked the ball goalward, but he couldn’t quite the required force into his effort and Raphael Guerreiro scrambled it clear off the line.
There were gasps all around at the ease at which Celtic were cutting Bayern open, but the locals barely had time to pick their jaws up off the floor before they were aghast again, as the impressive Arne Engels got in down the right and measured up his options.
Maeda was haring into the centre of goal, but Engels’ low cross just had too much pace on it, evading his teammate’s desperate lunge by mere millimetres.
Bayern, so unflustered in Glasgow, were rattled in their own back yard. Dayot Upamecano fluffed a clearance, presenting the ball to Kuhn, who in turn quickly presented it to Maeda. But this time, the forward snatched at his attempted chip, and Vincent Kompany’s men were off the hook again.
This was all in the opening 16 minutes.
As that remarkable early flurry subsided, you expected a ferocious Bayern response. And yes, Joshua Kimmich blew a good chance by placing the ball wide. And just on the half-time whistle, an otherwise peripheral Harry Kane planted the ball off the face of the crossbar.
But that was about it from the out-of-sorts Bundesliga leaders. Kane, still toiling clearly from the knock he picked up in the weekend draw against Bayer Leverkusen, didn’t reappear for the second half, and you sensed the chances of Celtic pulling off an almighty upset just increasing again ever so slightly.
The question was, when their next big chance came, could they finally take it?
You bet they could.
Just after the hour, Maeda did what Maeda does, chasing a hopeful Adam Idah pass and making something out of nothing.
He forced the ball through towards Kuhn coming in off the right, but he looked second favourite before Kim made a hash of his attempted slide tackle, coughing the ball up, and suddenly Kuhn could see the whites of Neuer’s eyes again.
This time, he didn’t blink, slotting home low into the net to send the wedge of Celtic fans who were already up in the gods further up still, and all the way into heaven.
Would it be enough to push them into the last 16 of the Champions League against all the odds? Crushingly, it would not be.
With seconds remaining of the four added minutes of stoppage time, Kasper Schmeichel made a wonder save, but as the ball broke, Cameron Carter-Vickers could only force his desperate clearance off Davies on the line, and the ball nestled into the net.
Technically, a failure to progress, perhaps. But there wasn't a failure among them.
None of it will feel particularly glorious to Rodgers and his men just at the moment, but this was an unbelievable effort, and Celtic deserved so much more.
