VILLAREAL, Spain — The song spread around the Estadio de la Céramica, out from the little corner beneath the scoreboard where Villarreal’s most raucous fans are housed, as Liverpool played out the final passes and the clock ticked beyond 90, until the whole stadium was standing as one. The home fans held their scarves high above their heads, their pride masking the pain.

Villarreal came close on Tuesday, closer than anyone could really have imagined, to making the Champions League final. At halftime, Unai Emery’s team was in control of the game and in control of the two-legged tie, and Liverpool — the overwhelming favorite — seemed to have had its confidence sapped and its rhythm broken. The fans, decked out in yellow and blue, smelled blood. They sensed a miracle.

It was not to be. After falling behind during an uncharacteristically sloppy first half in which it surrendered two goals, Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool was transformed in the second half, drawing the sting out of the crowd through a goal by Fabinho, effectively ending the tie through another by Luis Díaz, and securing a victory on the night, 3-2, through a third from Sadio Mané.

Just when it seemed to be in its grasp, Villarreal’s dream was snatched away. There was something cruel about that, but also something to be cherished. How much it hurt is, perhaps, the best measure of how close it came.