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Spurs vs. Young Boys - Leg 2 Preview

So, I'm scared. I don't see a ton of reason to be confident. We're not playing that well right now. We've got a history of epic f-ups. Failure in the biggest moments has been ingrained in me for years, ever since I started supporting Spurs. We've only recently turned that around.

The good news is that since Harry Redknapp has taken over as manager, we've been pretty good at grinding out results in matches where we don't play our best. I think that the 3-2 loss in Bern can be considered "grinding out a result." Yes, we lost, but to take the epic ass-kicking that we received and turn it into something workable constitutes "getting a result." We did something very similar at the Brittania this weekend. Yes, Bale and Lennon were brilliant, but as a whole Spurs played poorly. We got battered by Stoke for the entirety of the second half and managed to win a game we should have lost. These two matches are examples of the current Spurs team that is vastly different from the one I had such a strong love-hate relationship with over the years.

Some have gone as far to call our position an advantage over Young Boys. I think that's a bit of a stretch, but only a minor one. I'd call our chances of going through a coin flip, but it's only a coin flip because we're Spurs.

See, I haven't gotten that old Spurs mentality out of my head yet. I still expect us to blow big games. I still expect us to find ways to turn our advantages into disadvantages. Yes, tonight's game is at the Lane. Yes, we have superior talent to Young Boys. Yes, Ledley King is likely to start. It doesn't matter, I can't kill that sinking feeling.

It's not just Spurs. Sure, I remember the food poisoning incident. That was pretty high on the Bill Simmons' Levels of Losing. I also remember Schalke pissing away their title chances last year by inexplicably getting their asses kicked by Hannover and Cruz Azul somehow finishing ninth in the Bicentenario last year. I won't get over 4th and 26 until the Packers win another Super Bowl. I support the Milwaukee Brewers. I guess it was only natural that I would pick Spurs with my history in other sports. I didn't even know about their history of choking or that they were the richest team to never make the Champions League group stages. It must have been destiny.

Today, Spurs can reverse this. As of the time I'm writing this, they are still the richest team to never qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stages.

There's no use writing about tactics and selections. Harry has limited personnel available to him due to injury and both teams are likely to play a fairly basic 4-4-2. Both might switch to basic 4-5-1 formations based on healthy personnel and game situations. This game doesn't require a Johnathan Wilson column or Zonal Marking graphs. The better team will win, period. No gimmicks, no bullshit. Unless the referee completely bottles it, which seems to be a rarity in the Champions League, the better team will win. I can only hope that Spurs are the better team.