It has been a chastening European campaign for the Pittodrie outfit, shipping 14 goals and scoring just three across their six matches.
Aberdeen’s high point was a goalless draw at AEK Larnaca, while their other point came in a disappointing 1-1 against Noah at Pittodrie, with the Armenian side the only one of the Dons’ opponents not to qualify directly for the last 16.
Aberdeen will point to the difficulty of their opponents, but they have not been taking on Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
Yes, AEK Athens, Sparta and Shakhtar finished in the top eight, but they did so because of the three points they took against Aberdeen.
Lincoln Red Imps finished on seven points, while Jagiellonia Bialystok, Drita, KuPS, Shkendija and Sigma all qualified for the play-off round – sides who Aberdeen would back themselves to compete with.
Mitov handed the initiative to Sparta for their opener with a needless pass into midfield and from there, Aberdeen were never in the contest.
They must now regroup and recover before they go to crisis-ridden Celtic in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday (15:00).
