Aberdeen will hope to exorcise the demons of their last visit to Hampden by booking their place in the Scottish Cup final this weekend.
Dons fans will need no reminding it is the National Stadium where their side’s spectacular start to the season came off the rails in equally incredible fashion in November.
Thelin watched his side’s unbeaten start to the campaign crumble in a 6-0 demolition by Celtic in the League Cup semi-final on November 2.
It was a result which was as shocking as it was unexpected and the fallout from the confidence-eroding loss hit hard at Pittodrie.
The Dons looked to have bounced back form their humbling at Hampden when they beat Dundee 4-1 at Pittodrie in the next Scottish Premiership game on November 9.
But following the international break Thelin and his players led the Red Army through a winter of discontent as they embarked on a 14-game winless league run.
If the League Cup heralded the beginning of Aberdeen’s fall from grace, the Scottish Cup has been the catalyst for their revival with the victories against Elgin City and Dunfermline breaking the monotony of the dire league results.
Slowly but surely Thelin has led his team out of the mire and not only back into the race for Europe but also now one game away from the showpiece finale of the season.
Pressure on both sides in the semi-final
Hearts stand between the Dons and the final, and the stakes are high for what will be only the third meeting of the teams in the competition at Hampden.
Both sets of supporters believe they follow the third-best team in the country and they will want to see their respective team prove it at the expense of the other this weekend.
For the Dons, cup glory would end 35 years of hurt and secure their first Scottish Cup final appearance since 2017.
For the Jambos, 13 years have passed since Hearts last lifted the trophy and they have come up short in their last three appearances in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
There is also the not insignificant bonus that Scottish Cup glory will guarantee group stage football in Europe for the winners.
Aberdeen at least have the carrot of knowing a third-place finish will bring that same reward should Celtic win the cup.
For Hearts – who missed out on a place in the top six at the weekend – it’s cup glory or bust in that regard.
Financial implications are huge
Fans would rightly celebrate silverware and no doubt so would the players and staff of both clubs.
But for the bean counters at Pittodrie and Tynecastle – the real cause for celebration would be the financial reward winning the cup brings to the coffers.
Europe has become a vital source of income for Scottish clubs with riches on offer significantly higher than winning any domestic competition.
Aberdeen missed out on Europe altogether this season and the impact of that lost income will be laid bare in November when the annual accounts are released.
Hearts were the team who enjoyed group stage involvement in the Conference League this season, and the additional income generated was significant.
There was £2.66million for reaching the group stage while two wins and a draw added another £780,000, and that’s before you add in the money from the games played at Tynecastle.
In total it would easily have exceeded £5million in total.
With the chance of securing access to that money again next season still alive for the victors at Hampden the case could be made that Saturday’s semi-final is the biggest game of the season for two of the country’s biggest clubs.
Conversation