They are a club who have played Barcelona four times and beaten them four times.
They have walked into the millionaires’ playground of Monte Carlo and hammered AS Monaco.
They have battled through when all was thought to be lost, with famous results in Bremen, Eindhoven and Monchengladbach to their name. Now, all Dundee United have to do is win in Moscow tonight.
It would take a result of the magnitude of those achieved by those great teams of the 1980s for them to still be in the Europa League after this trip to the Arena Khimki.
To be honest, the odds against Peter Houston’s men beating Dinamo Moscow in their own back yard are enormous.
Suggest to a top Spanish or English club that they needed to win in Russia and they would reply that you were asking a lot. Yet the Tangerines are here in Moscow genuinely believing they have a chance.
That is due to their dynamic display last Thursday in the first leg of this third qualifying round tie, when only the cruellest of deflected goals in the dying seconds robbed them of what would have been a famous win.
They took further encouragement from a commanding performance against Hibs in the SPL on Sunday, when they swept aside the Edinburgh club and should have won by more than their three goals.
Then came the news, just hours after that home victory, that Dinamo had dispensed with the services of manager Sergei Silkin following their 4-0 home thrashing by Moscow rivals Spartak, with caretaker coach Dmitri Khokhlov taking charge against United.
They need cool heads and a masterplan. Houston has vowed to attack Dinamo and he will be a man of his word.
However, United will be up against a team hurting from a barrage of criticism and the dramatic departure of their coach.
Whether the exit of Sergei Silkin will work in the visitors’ favour or not will only become clear after kick-off.
However, United midfielder Richie Ryan certainly does not think the task is beyond him and his teammates.
It will be a long way from his native Tipperary to the Arena Khimki for Ryan but the Irishman is determined to do himself proud under pressure tonight.
”There is no reason why we can’t create chances against them and come away with the victory we need,” said Ryan, who joined his teammates at Dinamo’s ground for a training session.
”It is going to be very important for us to retain the ball and to keep things tight in defence when we don’t have possession.
”The players are ready, though. We are well up for it.
”We have lads who can more than hold their own in this type of company – the likes of Johnny Russell and John Rankin to name but a couple.
”We have some very good players in our ranks, technically gifted footballers.
”At United we play the game the way it should be played and it is always nice to have confidence in the players around you.
”That will help us. We believe in each other.”