Image source, Gett

So this is the third round of qualifying... 

To get into a play-off... 

To get in to the group stages... 

After which there are four knock-out rounds...

To reach the final.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. Tonight it is all about:

West Ham v Astra Giurgiu (19:45 BST)

Southampton v Vitesse Arnhem (20:05 BST)

Image source, Getty Images

18 matches.

A minimum of 27 hours of football against nine different opponents. Over a little less than 10 months.

West Ham and Southampton are on the long, long road to St Jakob Park in Basel and the Europa League final on 18 May.