Another club might have ditched the self-deprecation by now, but Bournemouth are a conscious bunch. They know the depths from which they rose to reach this European stage and so their social media manager could not resist adding a note when advertising their next home fixture.

‘AC Milan (H)… still feels a bit mad typing that,’ the admin tweeted. While Bournemouth are now an accomplished Premier League club, they recognise their history and respect that this is a Europa League fixture at the Vitality Stadium which will carry no shortage of nods.

There is the nod to Milan themselves with Bournemouth’s red-and-black striped kit adopted in 1971. That rebrand was inspired by the Italian giants’ swashbuckling greatness, while they also added ‘AFC’ to the beginning of their name to ensure they would appear first in alphabetical lists.

There is the nod to how as recently as 2008, they were starting their season in League Two with a 17-point deduction. Bournemouth’s supporters unveiled an enormous banner before their last Europa League home game against Sturm Graz which read ‘Minus 17 to European dreams’ as the DJ pressed play on Andy Williams’s The Impossible Dream. We can expect to see more references to where they came from before this marquee showdown with Milan, a club that have seven European Cup/Champions League trophies in their cabinet.

But the biggest nod is the literal one provided by Jeff Mostyn while standing at the back of a room. As detailed by Mostyn, who wrote a memoir called The Chairman: The Man Who Saved AFC Bournemouth, he led the takeover of the club in 2007 at a time when the club was flirting with ceasing to exist.

Mostyn’s lawyers did their due diligence at the time, and, in his own words, advised him to get back in the car and drive as fast as he could out of Bournemouth.

Yet Mostyn saw a club in need. There was a famous moment when administrator Gerald Krasner conducted a press conference. He had warned Mostyn beforehand that at some stage, he would ask him the question whether he would fund the additional £100,000 required to save Bournemouth from liquidation. It would then be over to him to either nod, or shake his head. The room turned to Mostyn, who nodded, his heart ruling his head in that moment.

Were it not for Mostyn and that nod, Bournemouth would not be where they are today, as a Premier League club about to face Milan in a European fixture.

It is a clash worth celebrating because of that. It allows those supporters of sides lower down the pyramid to dream themselves. Yet once Marco Rose's players are on the pitch, Bournemouth should not see this as a ceremonial clash.

They have snapped out of their Premier League slumber, finally securing their first win under Rose by beating Sunderland on Sunday. Milan are unbeaten in Serie A, and managed by Ruben Amorim, formerly of Manchester United, but the bookmakers have Bournemouth as favourites to win amid all the romanticism. And then they visit a troubled United on Sunday. 

They are perfectly capable of competing, and winning. Bournemouth already carry a perfect record in the Europa League, having won away at Real Sociedad and at home against Sturm Graz. Adam Smith, who first joined the club on loan in 2010 when they were in League One, set up Evanilson for their opener in that latter victory.

Fifteen years ago on this night, Bournemouth were still toiling in football's third tier, losing at home to Bury. That was during a six-game winless streak which included being beaten by Hartlepool, and drawing with Tranmere, Rochdale, MK Dons and Colchester.

Bournemouth’s mayor, Roberto Rocca, was not living here then. He moved to the town 13 years ago as a Milan-born Italian. Yet he is now backing his local club.

‘Milan by birth, Bournemouth by choice,’ Rocca said, and there is every chance that he will have bragging rights over his Milan-supporting family members come full-time. They have endured the dark days, but this will be up there with Bournemouth’s best ones.