Excitement was becoming tangible in the Birmingham air, Villa fans were beginning to dream of Istanbul and players are beginning to cautiously wonder if it's they who will be the hero ahead of Thursday evening's clash.
Then, Martin O'Neill, the very apple of most Aston Villa fan's eyes, leaves everyone feeling despondent and confused by his squad selection on Tuesday morning.
It's more of a: "Who and who?" than a who's who of Villa stars. One could be forgiven for wondering if Mr O'Neill himself was even going to travel.
Not wishing to, in any way, undermine the manager there has been a strong sense of dismay and uncertainty amongst Villa fans. Why bother with the Intertoto Cup in July? Why bother fielding a strong team in the first leg? Why not make any substitutions three days before a crunch game with Chelsea? Why risk hugely important players like Curtis Davies, John Carew and Luke Young given that you clearly don't care about the competition? Why expose fragile young players to a probable mauling in the Moscow cold?
Well the buck stops with O'Neill, he is paid to make such calls and can anyone really question him given how well he has done until now?
Chance
To those reading between the lines it has been apparent for some time that the Uefa Cup was taking a back seat, not only to the Premier League but to the FA Cup also.
Is it the travel he shuns? Certainly a factor. Is it that O'Neill holds some form of bizarre bitterness towards the competition following Celtic's final heartbreak in 2003? Presumably not a factor. Is the squad still too small to cope with such demand? Again an issue. Or is it really that he never expected this current Premier League season to pan out as incredibly well as it has? The nail has been hit squarely on the head.
In an attempt to appease the fans whom O'Neill appreciates so dearly, he desperately wanted to keep a Uefa Cup run going but a weary and jaded performance against Chelsea made his mind up for him. He simply cannot let this amazing chance to qualify for the Champions League, within three years of joining the club, slide away.
Still six points clear of Arsenal with only 12 games to go there is so much to play for between now and May, with or without the Uefa Cup.
Given O'Neill's genius and track record, one would hope that whether Villa finish third, fourth, fifth or sixth this season, the fans will not turn on the manager.
Then again, the Claret and Blue could yet surprise everyone, including their manager, and win. Stranger things have happened, but maybe not too many.