Wolves comment: Let's pray for more memories in Europe
It is 90 minutes away. Torino – the club who have won Serie A seven times, the club who have got to a Uefa Cup final, and the club who Wolves put three past last week – stand in the way of a spot in the Europa League group stage.
It was quite the night in Turin for the first leg.
Was it Romain Saiss who opened the scoring with his head, or was it a Bremer own goal? It didn’t matter, the travelling old gold faithful were in complete and utter delirium.
Diogo Jota added to the joy, and Raul Jimenez had jaws wide open in astonishment as he drove through the heart of the Italians and confidently slotted the ball past four-time French top-flight title-winner Salvatore Sirigu.
Cheap goals to concede, in the form of a Lorenzo De Silvestri header and an Andrea Belotti penalty after some naive defending from young talent Ruben Vinagre, make things more nail-biting for this second encounter – but it was a night that left Wolves fans pinching themselves. And wanting more.
They are praying this journey does not come to a premature end. Who can blame them either?
After all, they have waited long enough for such occasions.
Wolves got to the final in 1972 with club legends Kenny Hibbitt, John Richards and Phil Parkes. Supporters are dreaming Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves and Rui Patricio will also be held in such high regard after making it all the way to Gdansk in just a few short months.
Crusaders were the opponents as the club returned to European competition after 39 years away. During that break, Wolves experienced highs and a fair few lows.
The short trip over to Belfast – after a 2-0 win at home – was a thoroughly enjoyable one. A Ryan Bennett own goal provided a brief scare, but the huge gulf in class eventually told on the plastic pitch.
And the Crues did Northern Ireland proud with how they welcomed the Wolves army with such open arms – and gave them a decent game given their part-time status.
On the back of such a straightforward journey, it was inevitable that Wolves’ next one would be gruelling – a 6,000-mile round trip, to be precise.
FC Pyunik of Yerevan, Armenia posed a potential banana skin as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side stepped into the unknown.
Any fears were soon quashed though, and Wolves ran out 4-0 winners, rewarding the 48 die-hard souls that travelled so far.
And just to make sure every fan that got on multiple planes, probably a train and at least a couple of taxis to be there, knew how much their efforts were appreciated – skipper Conor Coady sent them all a letter of thanks.
A win by the same scoreline followed in the reverse fixture as four debutants were fielded – Pedro Neto, Patrick Cutrone, Jesus Vallejo and Maximilian Kilman.
Then, Wolves were drawn against Torino, presenting Nuno’s team with the toughest challenge they could have asked for in the play-off round. But Wolves have embraced it thus far.
A fair few of us expected a cagey affair at the Stadio Olympico Grande Torino. Instead, we were treated to a fearless attacking display.
And now, here we are, waiting eagerly for kick-off at Molineux and crossing our fingers for Wolves to see it through.
The five games so far in Europe have put smiles on so many faces. Let’s hope the sixth does, and the six more to follow in the group stages.
A Torino turnaround would be gutting, but, of course, it would not be the end of the world.
Some argue the Europa League could prove to be an unnecessary distraction, with Wolves wanting to match, or even better, their seventh-placed finish in the Premier League and have another run in the FA Cup after last campaign’s semi-final at Wembley. Nuno’s charges did look short of energy and ideas against Burnley last weekend, too.
But experiences like this are not to be passed up. You take the rough with the smooth.
Wolves, at around 10pm tonight, could have clinched their place in the group stage.
For getting there, they would pocket £2.64million. For every win in the group, they would get more than £500,000, and around £170,000 for draws. Group winners pocket £900,000, and runners-up half that. Fosun are not exactly desperate for cash, but it all helps.
More importantly, the likes of Roma, Sevilla, Wolfsburg, Sporting and CSKA Moscow will be in the competition previously won by Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Ajax.
Wolves, expected to be in pot three should they progress, could end up in a group with Besiktas, Borussia Monchengladbach and Stade Rennais.
How can you not be excited by that?
