IF GOOD fortune is a prerequisite for advancing to the latter stages of cup competitions then Bayern Munich can ill afford to be complacent when they face Aberdeen in the last 32 of the Uefa Cup on Thursday week.
Some of the Bundesliga leader's p
layers have already publicly discussed their preferred opponents in the subsequent round, while the Bavarian club's spy seems to be equally dismissive about the prospect of an upset having left Aberdeen's recent home league defeat to Hearts at half-time.
Dnipro found that out to their cost as an assumption their superiority would prevail led to elimination on the away goals rule despite the Ukraine league leaders producing the most one-sided second half of football anyone present can remember witnessing.
This Scottish Cup tie hardly came into the same category but Brechin City could be forgiven a delicious sense of schadenfreude when Hamilton's second elimination from the competition in the space of five days left them nursing a genuine sense of injustice.
The First Division leaders were only at Pittodrie because of the administrative blunder by those behind the scenes at Glebe Park which saw the Angus club field two ineligible players in last Monday's fourth round replay.
It was a combination of the woodwork, a series of excellent saves from Jamie Langfield and a moment of brilliance from Zander Diamond that maintained Aberdeen's momentum in four competitions by sneaking them into the last eight of the Scottish Cup at Hamilton's expense.
Afterwards, not even the player himself could explain why central defender Diamond was occupying the inside right channel when Barry Nicholson threaded a sublime pass from which he was able to score the only goal of the game after 62 minutes. What he could understand was the significance of avoiding either an embarrassing defeat or the need for a replay in an already packed schedule. "We know we haven't performed to the standard we are capable of but we're in the next round and that's the main thing," said Diamond. "Over the years we've played well in ties and been put out so whether we win 1-0 or 3-0 we'll take it."
Diamond's attitude applies equally to the CIS Cup semi-final against Dundee United tomorrow and the Aberdeen defender, who recently signed a three-and-a-half-year contract extension, believes luck has already given his side an edge for the Tynecastle tie.
Heavy rain forced a postponement last week at a time when Calderwood was without eight first-team regulars through injury, the majority of whom will be available tomorrow night.
In addition new signings Josh Walker, the captain of England's under-19 who made an impressive debut against Hamilton after a loan move from Middlesbrough, and Alan Maybury, who was neat and tidy in a short run after returning to Scotland from Leicester City, can both play.
If that wasn't enough of a boost for a club who have not appeared in a major final for eight years, Dundee United's talismanic skipper Barry Robson has moved to Celtic in the interim while his on loan replacement Jim O'Brien, Diamond's cousin, is ineligible. But it is Robson's departure along with goalkeeper Gregorz Szamotulski that has Diamond believing the fates are conspiring to make it Aberdeen's year.
He added: "Barry Robson was brilliant against us when he got a double in their 3-0 win at Tannadice a couple of weeks ago and will be missed.
"So will Szamotulski, who proved himself a good keeper, especially in their opening day win against us but he has now gone as well and Jim O'Brien, my wee cousin, can't play in this game either so of course we have to capitalise on that."
They will also hope to take advantage of a home draw against Celtic in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup, after all the last time Aberdeen won the trophy in 1990 it was the Parkhead side they defeated on penalty kicks.
Hamilton's cup involvement is over for another season but the First Division leaders' manager, Billy Reid, was pleased with his team's performance. "I know we have good players and we encourage them to play in the right manner – that showed here," he said.
The full article contains 723 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
