Clash of the Titans

It’s the crucial second leg of the Nations League A playoff and the 5pm kick off at Hampden against Greece is slightly weighted in our favour given the 1-0 lead we brought back from Athens on Thursday night. That came courtesy of a Scott McTominay penalty, one that if it had gone against us we’d still be raging about it and you have to hope tonight’s referee doesn’t try to redress the balance of that.

The game on Thursday was the epitome of a game of two halves. Scotland looked the more threatening in the first half, particularly the final few minutes where Billy Gilmour found himself in a great position only to get a little nudge as he was about to shoot, and then Che Adams had two great opportunities but fluffed them both.

But in the second half, the Greeks pressed Scotland more and if not for the intervention of Tony Ralston they might well have equalised instead of hitting the post. Then again, Craig Gordon wasn’t exactly busy.

The good news from Thursday night, aside from the narrow lead, is that none of our players picked up a yellow card that would keep them out of this crucial second leg. Ryan Christie has now served his ban, so he will be available as another option for Steve Clarke.

For those not paying the extortionate ticket prices at Hampden, the game this evening is live on both BBC Two and BBC Scotland. Should Scotland win the game, or even draw the game, then Scotland will be in the Nations League A for the next campaign. Should the Greeks win by two or more goals, Scotland will be relegated to Nations League B for the next campaign.

Should the Greeks be just a single goal up at full time, there will be extra time as away goals don’t apply, and possibly even penalties if there’s no breakthrough. Which would be something of a novelty as Scotland fans have never been there to watch Scotland take part in a penalty shootout! Our 100% record from the Euro 2020 playoffs were both behind closed doors.

As mentioned on Thursday, this is only the second campaign we’ve faced the Greeks and we’ve never met them in friendlies. That means this is only their second visit to Scotland, with the first coming in Euro 96 qualifying. Ally McCoist got the only goal of the game that night, in a game that was crucial for us to qualifying for the finals in England – especially as it cancelled out the defeat we’d suffered the previous year in Athens.

Not a whole lot else to say at this point, but as Liam McLeod repeatedly pointed out during commentary on Thursday night, Denmark also hold a slender leader from the first leg of their Nations League quarter final against Portugal. If they can hold onto that, and Portugal barely had a shot on target on Thursday, then they’ll earn a place in the semi final and avoid facing us in World Cup qualifying. We’d then be looking at a very quick reunion with Portugal, having faced them last year.

But that’s for later in the year. Good luck to Scotland this evening!