Personally, a lot has happened outside of football that has put me in the doldrums lately (understatement) so I could really do with something to cheer me up big time - and I'm pretty sure that there's a lot of you out there that would also appreciated it as much.
As a result of the above, a bit of realism has kicked in and to try and take my mind off the rest of the shit that's happened/happening, I've been thinking about this all day and the conclusion is that the odds are so far against us (our fault entirely) that in our favour tonight is that we've absolutely nothing to lose. The games been written off by many so for me, there's absolutely no pressure, so to the lads over there: "Go out and express yourselves. Fill yer boots. Give it your all and have no regrets." Someone needs a gubbing. Make it them. A result tonight would be one helluva statement after the past week and mentally could seriously damage the others.
Cautionary note: Everyone knows we're capable of massive comebacks. Atalanta (no disrespect) are no Barcelona, nor are they prime Dortmund. They are however at home and 3 goals up for whatever reason so this makes it even more improbable, but also being away from home could work in our favour, but the omens are not great, so my expectations are set very much lower than normal, insomuch as if we don't go through, then so long as we don't damp squib tonight and go out limply, then we only have ourselves to blame and can't have any complaints.
IF we DO go through, then its another night of European history and we'll be dancing in the streets.
Hope that it's the latter, not the former and only by supporting this club and seeing what I've seen in the past means that I can even dare think that this is even an outcome for us... But that's who we are, isn't it?
Allez Redmen. What will be, will be.