ONE shot at glory, one chance at immortality, has come and gone. Scott Arfield reckons Rangers will get another opportunity to make themselves legends soon enough.
It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime night for Giovanni van Bronckhorst but as the dust settled on Seville, the bigger picture could be looked at in terms of a remarkable Europa League campaign.
In the end, Eintracht Frankfurt proved to be a hurdle that Rangers couldn't overcome and the defeat was a painful reminder of how cruel the game can be to those on and off the park.
The euphoria of the sensational wins over Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, of the nerve-shredding nights as Red Star Belgrade and Braga were beaten, remain stored in the memory.
And it is those recollections, combined with the agony of a shoot-out defeat, that will inspire Rangers to pick themselves up, dust themselves down and go again next term.
The recovery process will begin with a Scottish Cup final against Hearts on Saturday but recent months have given Rangers confidence that the continent can one day be conquered.
“Wonderful thing is we have a game in three days so there is no choice but to get on with it," Arfield said. "We represent Rangers Football Club and we’re here to win trophies.
"Again we never done that [on Wednesday night] but we have a chance to do so on Saturday, so we won’t feel sorry for ourselves as yet.
"We’ll have a full summer to digest what this means to people and just came up short at the wrong time but we’ll be back, no doubt about it.
“When you get here it’s probably like [it feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity]. It’s probably the first time in your career you are going to get here.
"But once you have got here you get a taste for it and feel as if you can get back to it. I think if you look at the teams we have beaten along the way there is no reason we can’t do that again next year.
"No doubt about it. We’ll strengthen in the summer, get better players in, get better again, the manager will have a pre-season and we’ll crack on and see where it takes us.”
Van Bronckhorst consoled his players on the park after Aaron Ramsey's penalty miss proved to be a blow that Rangers couldn't recover from and the one which handed Frankfurt the silverware.
Once they gathered in the away dressing room, the messages had to be upbeat. Rangers, after all, have no time to feel sorry for themselves as attentions turn to Hampden.
Arfield is old enough and wise enough to know that the lows have to balance off the highs in the game and the midfielder won't allow Rangers to sulk after Seville.
Arfield said: "There’s only so much you can say, players are only going to listen to so much because they’re obviously caught in the emotion.
"As you get older you realise that we’ve got a match in three days time. A massive game for silverware. We wanted two trophies now we can only get one so we want that and it’s the full focus now.
“It’s probably harder for the younger players as I said to wee Alex (Lowry) and Leon King, you need to bottle this feeling.
"I’ve had some horrific nights, I’ve been relegated from the premier league, I’ve lost playoff finals and a cup final to Celtic.
"Horrific nights but wonderful nights as well, you can bottle the two of the emotions. Keep the lid on one of them, and let the other one and remember those feelings because when they come they’re amazing which is why you need to celebrate how you celebrate against Dortmund and Leipzig because when you have them you have special nights.
"You have to remember these feelings as well on the flip side of this because you don’t want them again.”
When Joe Aribo slotted home in the second half and set Rangers on their way, it seemed like the stars were aligning and this was indeed going to be their night, their moment of history.
An hour or so later, there were only feelings of what might have been as Frankfurt converted five out of five from the spot and sparked their own wild scenes of celebration.
A late Ryan Kent chance that was superbly saved by Kevin Trapp earned the Germans their shoot-out chance. It was one they never looked like passing up.
Arfield said: "I think you can see it in our faces, how hard it is to take.
"Losing at penalties at any stage in any competition is hard but today in the final is a tough one to take. But as always i try to put a positive spin and I said in the dressing room we’ll be back.
"This team has come too far to let one final destabilise it. We’ll be back no doubt about it.
"Had a big chance with two minutes to go with Ryan as well. We go to the death but it just wasn’t happening. It just wasn’t.
"We’ve had numerous massive nights in this competition from all the way back the first games in July/August time up to now, we’ve had massive nights and we just needed one more and it just never came.
“I’m not sure [if it was a penalty on Kent]. I just know it’s a helluva save to make from that distance. From where I am he gets it clean and it’s a wonderful save from the boy.
"Again that’s fine margins at any level especially at this stage of the competition, that’s the one you think you’re going to get the gold medal but obviously it was disappointing not to get it.”
