Facing BK Hacken will be an emotional, momentous night that will live long in the memory for many Aberdeen supporters.
Thursday July 22 will be remembered as the day Pittodrie finally came back to life after 17 months of silence with the Red Army back.
It is no ordinary European tie, because I am sure there will be tears shed by a few supporters when they finally set foot inside the stadium again.
Aberdeen can welcome 5,665 supporters for the tie against BK Hacken and, with the nation at level zero from Monday, we knew they were always going be allowed at least 2,000.
When the pandemic first hit last March, I never imagined it would be a year-and-a-half before supporters were welcomed back, albeit still in reduced numbers.
I thought it would be six months before society returned to normal.
Unfortunately it just went from bad to worse during the pandemic and so many people have sadly lost their lives to Covid.
Many have been seriously ill with the virus and continue to suffer from long Covid.
Families were kept apart for long spells due to the lockdown and could not hug one another for comfort and support.
After a hellish 17 months, Thursday’s European game offers some light at the end of what has been a very long and dark tunnel.
The return of supporters will also be great for the players as there will be an atmosphere in the stadium again after a full season of closed-door games.
Players will buzz off the energy from the crowd and it will give them an extra edge, particularly in what will be a competitive Dons debut for many.
After so long away, hopefully Aberdeen can reward the Red Army with a victory and entertaining football.
The signs are positive as manager Stephen Glass appears to be a very forward-thinking manager and has signed players who will push on in attack.
He has brought experienced players and goal-scorers into the club during the summer and I am genuinely excited to see his new-look team.
All the new players will be determined to make an immediate impression in front of the supporters.
They will be desperate to show their skills to the Red Army and shine on the European stage, which will have been a draw for some of the summer signings.
Glass has added two experienced strikers in Christian Ramirez and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
If either of them, ideally both, can net in that first leg against BK Hacken, it would be a terrific start and a real statement of intent.
Emmanuel-Thomas has already got off the mark when scoring in the 1-1 draw with Inverness Caley Thistle at Cormack Park last week.
Although it was only a friendly, it is important for a striker to get that early eye for goal in a season.
Hopefully this will be a campaign where the Aberdeen strikers bring a real goal threat, because that is fundamental to any bid for success.
Italy worthy winners of Euro 2020
England manager Gareth Southgate made the wrong call in bringing on two late substitutes to take penalties with only a minute left in the Euro 2020 final.
His decision to take on Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho in the final minute of extra-time against Italy backfired badly as they lost in the penalty shoot-out.
Rashford and Sancho were left to stand at the side for a couple of minutes before they even came on.
There were a couple of opportunities for them to be introduced when the ball went out of play, but still they were left to stand on the side-lines with the prospect of taking a penalty in the nation’s biggest game for 55 years hanging over them.
They had no time to warm up or get the feel of the match before taking the spot-kicks.
All three who missed their spot-kicks were tremendously brave and it takes enormous courage to take a penalty in such a high pressure atmosphere.
The vile racist abuse they subsequently suffered is sickening and depressing.
📈 With 93% passing accuracy & 3 assists, Marco Verratti is @FedEx's #EURO2020 Top Performer 👏👏👏#EUROPZ pic.twitter.com/jL8DqEKlsa
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 13, 2021
England did well to reach the final and take it to penalties, but Italy were deserved winners of the tournament.
They were the best side at Euro 2020 and dominated the final from the second half onwards.
League Cup has thrown up cracking tie
The League Cup group clash between Peterhead and Cove Rangers at Balmoor on Saturday has the potential to be a real cracker.
There will be a derby atmosphere with both sides desperate to get off the mark in what is a tough group with Hearts and Inverness Caley Thistle.
It will be a passionate, full-blooded game and it is great that there will be some supporters there to witness it.
The League Cup group stages are very important at this early point in the campaign and hopefully they can both build up some momentum.
Cove Rangers have signed some strong players during the summer and hopefully they can push for promotion to the Championship.
I think Peterhead will also do very well in League One and can also push for promotion.
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