Slovakian side MSK Zilina came to the Midlands with a determined attitude and claimed a result they couldn't have even dreamt of. Vladimir Leitner and Peter Styvar grabbed the goals which completed a memorable night for the travelling players and fans.
Nathan Delfouneso also had good reason to be pleased as he scored a debut goal for the home side but his mood was tarnished by the embarrassing defeat.
Zilina, who had a look of Norwich about them as they were dressed in a striking yellow and green strip, had their spirits lifted prior to kick off.
Martin O'Neill named a side containing Isaiah Osbourne, Moustapha Salifou and Zat Knight, all of whom are nowhere near claiming first team places. All in all it was a changed Villa side leaving over 25,000 fans disappointed and wondering whether this was going to be another night to forget at Villa Park.
Over recent seasons, Villa have appeared to be scared of the dark. They been knocked out of the Carling Cup by lower league opposition in consecutive seasons and this was reminiscent of those occasions.
The home side failed to really trouble the Zilina keeper in the second half despite dominating possession and introducing first teamers Gareth Barry, James Milner and Gabby Agbonlahor.
The Slovakians even had Leiner sent off ten minutes from time yet Villa still couldn't conjure a worthwhile effort on target.
Against Leicester and Q.P.R., O'Neill made wholesale changes and paid the price. Fans would have been hoping he'd learnt his lesson but that wasn't the case.
Villa hadn't qualified and needed Hamburg to beat Slavia Prague in order for a passage through to the knockout stages to be secured. Some may say it was a calculated risk by a clever manager. Others will claim that he wasted the fans money - again.
Money
Osbourne and Salifou are clearly not ready for European football but it wasn't totally their fault that they were part of a side which was left red faced. Resting players is all very well but the second string players must be introduced gradually not on mass.
The spine of the team had an inexperienced look to it and Villa simply didn't have the ability to cope with a much underestimated side.
Delfouneso and Marlon Harewood were the only bright sparks in a side which lacked inspiration and strength from the word go. Harewood illustrated just why he should have been introduced against Fulham at the weekend as he caused Zilina's defence with his pace and power.
Again substitutions were delayed and it was not until the 60th minute of the game when Milner was brought on. That meant that Villa had gone 150 minutes of football without making a substitution. Now, that may not seem to be a shocking statistic but when you consider Villa's performance during that time it certainly proves to be.
Fulham and Zilina were not troubled by a predictable Villa and without making changes early enough the home side struggled for creativity in both games.
However, it cannot be forgotten that Villa defeated Ajax with a degree of comfort and had the real Villa been allowed to grace the pitch it would undoubtedly have been a different story against the Slovakian minnows.
But, hindsight is a wonderful thing and had the fans who bought a combo Ajax and Zilina ticket deal known that O'Neill was going to put out such a side they might have just watched the game on TV instead of paying out good money.
As many fans observed, if they had wanted to watch the reserves then they would do so.