Remember the Europa League, those were the days eh?
We spent years trying to get back into the Champions League and, when we did, they decided to give us one of the hardest groups since it was first formed in 1992/93, cheers.
Before match day one there was genuine optimism that we could compete and pick up a few points, and why not? Our run to the Europa League final saw us beat some heavy-weight opposition and teams that regularly play in the continent’s elite tournament.
Since Amsterdam though, things have progressively gotten worse, not necessarily in terms of results but in terms of fear and just wanting to escape each game without a complete doing.
The bizarre thing is, that for an hour against both Napoli and Liverpool, we went toe to toe with them and proved that we deserve to be at this level only to then capitulate and self-implode, a far cry from the team who overcame set-backs against Borussia Dortmund, Braga and RB Leipzig last season.
I’d be surprised if Napoli don’t heavily rotate their squad for tonight’s fixture though. They are clearly better than us, we have multiple injuries, and they have already qualified for the knockout stages. They don’t need to risk their best players against us when they are in a great position to win their first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona. Serie A will be their priority between now and the World Cup.
This team is due us a performance, it would be nice if they could start by putting one in tonight.