Often at family gatherings, the youngest children are
relegated to sitting out of sight, out of mind at a small table. The goal for
those children is to be “big” enough both physically and socially, to be able
to sit at the “big kids” table. I assume that is what Dudelange feel like,
making it to the Europa League Group Stage not only for the first time in their
club’s history, but also being the first Luxembourgish team to do so. Whether
or not they are ready for dinner is another question altogether. But
congratulations, Dudelange. And welcome to the big kids table.
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| Let's have none of that on Thursday, please |
F91 Dudelange was formed in 1991 by combining three separate
teams in the city of Dudelange with the idea of strengthening them both
financially and on the pitch. The team got to take the place of the highest
ranking team, which was currently in the Luxembourg second division, amazingly
known as the “Division of Honour.” That is 100% true. Why would anyone want to
play in the first division, when they could play in the Division of Honour? It’s
amazing.
Well they have won a lot of league titles and such in the
Luxembourg top division, and have been working their way up in the Europa
League, never finishing past the third round until this season. Having defeated
CFR Cluj 5-2 on aggregate, they got invited to the big boys table in our group
with Olympiakos and Real Betis. That’s some serious dinner right there.
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| Their fans are ready for us |
When we head to Luxembourg on Thursday, I have no doubt we
will face a very proud city and team. What their capabilities are on the pitch
is another thing altogether. But after the first 25 minutes of our match on
Sunday, what our capabilities are is also in question.
Dudelange currently sit twelfth in the Luxembourg top
division with six points. They also have a couple of matches in hand, so that is
actually misleading. However, they do only have six points from four games, so
have either been distracted by the Europa League, or just not having their best
season. Dino Toppmöller’s side defeated UNA Strassen on Sunday 2-0. For that
match, he lined up Frising; Schnekk, Prempeh, Mélisse, Kruska, Stelvio, Stolz,
Jordanov, Couturier, Sinani, and Turpel.
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| Will we see our boy wonder? |
Milan, despite bringing back Maldini and changing ownership
and all, are still being Milan. We had a tough game vs. Napoli, then a
brilliant match vs. Roma, then raised eyebrows once again away to Cagliari on
Sunday. Four points in three matches, not the start we were hoping for. And
even if the Europa League is historically more of the little kids’ table for
us, right now we could probably use a couple of big books to sit on to feel
like we are ready for dinner there. Let’s hope we at least play well enough to
be worthy of the Division of Honour.
One would expect Gattuso to exercise some kind of squad
rotation on Thursday. Calhanoglu has a little finger injury, and Musacchio
suffered some light head trauma, so those are two players who could easily
start on the bench for good measure. Cutrone was coming off of an ankle sprain
last week on international duty, but was rested on Sunday. It is entirely
possible that Gattuso would rest Higuain and give Cutrone a start if he is fit.
How many other starters he rests will be interesting to watch. His
substitutions did nothing in the concept of impact on Sunday, and it could be
painful to have to watch them for 90 minutes. There is a great chance that Reina
will be our goalkeeper in Europe, as it is a good way to give him minutes while
still playing his best keeper in the league.
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| Guessing we'll see our second string €3m keeper on Thursday |
I mean no disrespect whatsoever when I welcome Dudelange to
the big kids’ table. It is an amazing accomplishment for their club, their
city, and their country. Which is why Milan must not take them for granted.
Even if the other two teams in our group have more European history, it is
always the new teams who are hungry and want to prove something. Beating a club
with a history like Milan’s in their own house would be a legend for the to
tell to their children, and that is precisely what they intend to do, I’m sure.
Let’s hope that when dinner is served on Thursday, both teams are ready for the
big kids’ table.
This post inspired by the music of STP’s
“Big Bang Baby”
Europa League
Group Stage
Dudelange vs. AC Milan
Thursday,
September 20 • 21:00 CEST (3pm EDT)
This match will
NOT be shown LIVE in the U.S.