Sourced from Daily Echo article
From Huddersfield to the San Siro - an incredible journey for the Saints fans
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So the day has come.
After the weeks of planning, the weeks of excitement, it has finally arrived, writes LIAM WHITLOCK.
I am going to watch Saints in the San Siro stadium.
It’s only six years and four days ago when Saints lost 2-0 at Huddersfield Town in a League 1 fixture.
We had only won five in 15 league and cup games in 2010/11.
In comparison, Inter Milan had won the Champions League five months earlier.
There is simply no way any Saints fan would ever imagine, in such a short space of time, that we would be facing one of the giants of European football in one of the world’s most iconic stadiums.
Without doubt, Inter have suffered a huge fall in grace since then.
For a start, the fact that they are playing in UEFA’s second tier competition speaks volumes.
I booked my hotel and flights four days after I found out we were facing Inter in our group.
After going to 20 away games last season - including Vitesse Arnhem in the Europa League - a trip to the San Siro is something I simply couldn’t miss.
As for the game itself, with Inter’s recent form and captain Mauro Icardi’s arguments with the Ultras supporters group, I don’t see why we can’t get a result.
If we win tonight, it would take a meltdown to not progress to the knockout stages.
Regarding Claude Puel, our board have - yet again - shown that managers are replaceable if the right research is done.
I was sceptical, like many, when the diamond formation was first operated, but we actually look a stronger outfit than what we did under Koeman so far.
Defensively, we rarely concede and we make chances going forward.
Up front, Charlie Austin is looking a snip at £4 million.
The two games we have lost - at Manchester United and Arsenal - were games that could have easily gone either way.
I also like the rotation policy Puel uses; it will be interesting to see whether we are as strong come the new year. Time will tell.
Tonight’s game has to be taken with the utmost importance.
I wouldn’t rest the amount of players that the manager did in Hapoel.
Yes, we have Manchester City away on Sunday, but if we can progress through this group as quickly as possible then we can field our strongest teams for the Premier League and rest our stars for the Europa League’s final three games.
My prediction is 2-1 to Saints - and I wouldn’t have said that six years and four days ago!
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