Germany did what they do best, and Scotland did likewise.
But it was the class of the world champions that prevailed over the dogged endeavour of Gordon Strachan’s men.
With Ireland and Poland both winning and qualification for Euro 2016 now a longer shot than before kick-off, it will come as little consolation that many other teams would have folded on a night such as this.
Germany had spells of domination big spells that made the contest look like a mismatch.
But, feeding off scraps, the Scots twice came from behind in the first half – a Mats Hummels own goal and a James McArthur edge of the box finish cancelling out Thomas Muller goals.
However, it proved beyond them to respond to a third, and Ilkay Gundogan’s side-footed strike proved to be the winner.
As predicted, there were several changes to the team that lost in Georgia.
McArthur, Grant Hanley and James Forrest all came in. Ikechi Anya and Steven Naismith were relegated to the bench, while Andy Robertson dropped out of the squad altogether.
The formation was exactly the same though, and so was the lone striker, Steven Fletcher.
The Sunderland man saw precious little of the ball in the early stages, as Germany ominously stroked the ball around the pitch from the off.
Strachan would have been disappointed that Mesut Ozil was allowed too much time to size up a shot from the edge of the box, but the Arsenal man only managed to strike it into the back of a Scottish defender.
Toni Kroos was next to try his luck seconds later, after Germany swiftly recycled the ball. But this time the shot was dragged wide of the target.
The game was shaping up as an attack v defence training exercise, and to the credit of the Scottish defence they were keeping the multi-million pound forwards a safe distance away from David Marshall.
Until the 18th minute, that was.
Muller dropped deep to pick up the ball and, with a turn of pace, accelerated away from the blue shirts in his vicinity before letting fly with a low left foot shoot.
This was a night when Scotland needed every bit of good fortune going, but it went against them when Muller’s shot took a deflection off Russell Martin beyond Marshall’s reach into the far corner.
It took until the 24th minute for Fletcher to get in behind the German back-line. He was picked out by James Morrison in the right channel but rather than taking his chances with a run into the box he checked back and the move petered out when the ball was over-run after the play was switched to the left.
There were shouts for a Scotland penalty when Emre Can pulled back Charlie Mulgrew on the edge of the box. But referee Bjorn Kulpers deemed it to be just outside, rather than just inside.
It mattered not, as from the free-kick Scotland equalised. And it was the star of the qualifying campaign, Shaun Maloney, who was largely responsible.
He whipped a dipping free-kick at Neuer. The best goalkeeper in world looked anything but when he couldn’t keep hold of it, and Hummels was the unfortunate player who was credited with an own goal when the ball bounced off him from point blank range and back into the net.
Scotland had been given an unexpected reprieve but it didn’t take long for Germany to reassert their control with a second goal. Just six minutes.
Can fired in a shot from the right, which Marshall couldn’t hold, and Muller was lurking in the right place at the right time to cash in.
It was now one-way traffic again, and only the assistant referee’s flag prevented a third German goal, chalking off a Mario Gotze volley.
But with just a couple minutes remaining the Scots made it two shots and two goals.
Germany half-cleared a rare corner and McArthur tried his luck with a shot through a packed penalty area. Neuer got a hand to the 18-yarder but, with James Morrison lurking nearby, couldn’t keep it out.
So, despite being over-run for most of the first half Scotland went into the break level.
The familiar pattern of play was re-set at the start of the second 45, with Germany again pinning the Scots back.
And on 50 minutes Gotze scored another offside goal at the end of a patient attack, with credit due to the Scotland back four for timing their rush out of the box perfectly.
Four minutes later the officials couldn’t help them out though, when a Muller cut-back was clinically put away by Gundogan to make it 3-2.
On 63 minutes Marshall kept Scotland in with a chance when he made a good block from a crisply struck Bastian Schweinsteiger 20-yard effort.
The background music was coming from the German end of Hampden. They sensed the hard work had been done. But they were silenced, albeit for just a few seconds, when Alan Hutton drove into the box and shot into the side-netting.
Gundogan had a decent shot saved in the dying minutes and Gotze was wasteful after a flowing move that cut the Scottish defence apart.
But they weren’t made to pay for failing to kill the game off, and saw it out for a 3-2 win that keeps them on top of Group D and Scotland looking at the play-offs at best to make it to France next summer.
Scotland Marshall, Hutton, Mulgrew, Russell Martin, Hanley, McArthur, Morrison, Brown (Chris Martin 81), Steven Fletcher, Forrest (Ritchie 81), Maloney (Anya 60). Subs not used Gordon, McGregor, Griffiths, Whittaker, Naismith, Russell, Darren Fletcher, Greer, Forsyth.
Germany Neuer, Hector, Hummels, Schweinsteiger, Ozil (Kramer 90), Muller, Can, Boateng, Kroos, Gotze (Schurrle 86), Gundogan. Subs not used Zieler, ter Stegen, Mustafi, Rudy, Ginter, Podolski, Volland, Bellarabi, Kruse.
Referee Bjorn Kulpers (Netherlands)