“We have a journey to do to reach another level and compete in Europe,” Thelin conceded afterwards. “We have to build this year and next year to become a more competitive team in these kinds of games.

“I think the best I can do as a manager is support my players and learn from this.”

If Aberdeen are still learning on the European stage, they’ll have to do it pretty quickly with games against AEK Larnaca, FC Noah, Strasbourg, and Sparta Prague still to come before the end of the league phase.

Domestically, Thelin’s side can’t really afford to spend any more time learning.

The north east club are currently second bottom of the Premiership with seven points from their opening eight matches, and have games against Hibernian and Kilmarnock before the end of October.

“The most important thing right now is we have a super important game on Sunday,” added Thelin.

“We have to focus on the right things and make it a good game against Hibs on Sunday to show our supporters that we can do really well in the league.”