THE agony of Aalborg is still raw among the Celtic players who have had two weeks to face up to the realisation that Europe is over for another year.

However, as he prepares to help bring the curtain down on this Champions League campaign against Villarreal tonight, Shaun Maloney admits the full extent of the pain will not be felt until the European competitions bursts into life again in February.

That's when Celtic will be on the outside looking in. And it's a vantage point which Maloney knows is unacceptable for a club who have suffered the discomfort of being out of Europe before Christmas only twice since 2001.

The harsh reality is, bad as everyone at Parkhead may feel, there is nothing they can do about it now.

The Euro gravy train has left the station - and they have been stranded on the platform.

Maloney said: "I think it will kick in when the Champions League and the Uefa Cup starts again after Christmas.

"At the minute it is just hectic. There are so many games and we're trying to stay at the top of the SPL league table.

"So, yes, it will probably be after Christmas when it will unfortunately sink in."

Given that the big Champions League nights at Celtic Park was one of the main motivations for Maloney, in August, turning his back on a lucrative career in the English Premier League with Aston Villa, this unexpected early exit has hit the man, who will turn 26 next month, harder than most.

The fact he was not even selected to start against Aalborg in the game where the dream died, only heightened the little man's misery.

Tonight, Maloney wants to be handed the chance to play his part in signing off for the season in the Champions League with the win which has so far eluded them.

Maloney is the only member of the current squad who was around when Celtic last played Villarreal at Parkhead.

That was in 2004 when the sides drew 1-1 in the quarter finals of the Uefa Cup before the La Liga club marched on with a victory in the second leg at El Madrigal.

A cruciate ligament injury robbed Maloney of the chance to do anything other than sit and suffer back then, as Celtic's European dreams hit the buffers.

Having endured the humiliation of crashing out to Artmedia in 2005, Maloney had moved to Villa by the time Celtic ventured into the hitherto uncharted waters of the last 16 two years ago.

He also missed the knock-out round matches against Barcelona last term as he continued to try and find contentment down south.

So Maloney might be starting to think that, for him, misfortune has become an unwanted travelling companion on his European adventures.

This season, even though Gordon Strachan persuaded the club to fork out potentially £2.5million to bring him back from Villa, he has again missed big games.

These included the crunch matches in Manchester and Aalborg, on both occasions a seat on the bench the position selected for him by Strachan.

But there is no bitterness, only an acceptance that the picture painted by the manager when they were discussing the return to Paradise of the prodigal was accurate.

Maloney said: "I want to play in all the games, but in Aalborg the manager had in his head that it was going to be the same team that started the St Mirren game the weekend before.

"I was just disappointed we couldn't get the result we needed. It was a disappointing night for the team all-in.

"But we had a game against Inverness three days later, so you had to put it to the back of your mind that we were out."

Maloney is honest enough to accept his recent performances have made it easy for Strachan to leave him out.

"My form could be better, so fingers crossed it does get better," he said. Strachan has decided that, even with striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink still out and leading scorer Georgios Samaras searching for his best form after surgery, this improvement is most likely to happen for Maloney operating wide left in midfield.

The issue of where he plays is not important to the man who was voted SPL Player of the Year three seasons ago. "You just want to be in the starting XI," he explained.

"But I understand. I spoke to the manager before I came back and he definitely picks a team - it could be a different one or it could be the same one from the last game - he has in his head that can beat whatever opposition we're playing.

"If I'm in it, then great. If I am not, I'm not going to get over-disappointed because there are so many games that, three days later, you could be back in the starting XI.

"Everyone is an individual player with their own attributes. So you have got to be on top of your form.

"But everyone's going to play and it is just about trying to keep winning."

Something Celtic could not manage to do at Easter Road where their bid to extend their SPL winning sequence to 13 matches faltered, allowing Rangers to reduce their lead from seven points to four.

Maloney has been over the course often enough to know that, when it comes to having your head in front in the title race, the only place it matters is on the finishing line.

Then the margin of victory is incidental. Of course, having a cushion is always appreciated.

But Maloney admits being seven clear - even if only for a week - was not where the Celtic players expected to find themselves so early in the season.

He said: "I was maybe a touch surprised to be seven clear. But we would love to still have a lead by New Year."

After which, the domestic trophies will have to act as a soothing balm for the ache which will be Europe.