When Saints were drawn with Inter Milan, it felt as though the matches between the sides would provide the real glamour of European qualification.

Now it seems they also will be defining fixtures for both clubs.

You would have got fairly short odds that in a group containing one of the traditional giants of world football, and a team that have been riding high for a number of years in the Premier League, that those two would get through to the knockout rounds.

Up against them were minnows from Israel in the shape of Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and a Sparta Prague team who openly admitted from the start that their focus was going to be on winning their domestic title and not the Europa League.

As it has turned out, with just two games gone, Saints have the chance to put one foot in the knockout stages and all but eliminate Inter in the process in the San Siro tonight.

There is little margin for error for Inter after defeats to both Hapoel and Sparta.

This middle combination of matches, where Saints and Inter play each home and away, while Hapoel and Sparta do the same, will be crucial.

Inter have to take four points from the two Saints games if they are to think they will realistically get through.

It makes for an interesting team selection for Inter boss Frank de Boer.

It might be that he, along with plenty of others, under-estimated the other teams in the group.

Cruise Inter have left £100m worth of talent out of their squad to comply with Financial Fair Play rules, but also fielded almost a reserve team from what remained in the opening two games.

Before a San Siro curtain raiser with Hapoel, De Boer might have thought that would still be enough.

Likewise, if he had watched Sparta’s game against Saints, as he surely did, he probably reckoned the same again.

On both occasions they were caught out.

If Inter’s plan was to cruise through the group, being prepared to just do enough to finish second to get through if needed while playing virtually a reserve team as they try and have a better crack at Serie A and Champions League qualification, it really hasn’t worked out.

De Boer finds himself at a crossroads now.

He either has to just stick with this policy and accept that there is every chance that by the time they have played Saints twice over the next couple of weeks they might be as good as out.

Or he has to do a pretty quick about turn and field the strongest side available to him against Saints and have a proper go at it.

That Mauro Icardi, Inter’s most potent attacking threat, has yet to start in the Europa League this season tells you everything you need to know about their approach to the tournament.

Should he and some of his fellow star names line up against Saints it could suddenly be a very different prospect.

That would be unfortunate for Claude Puel, with Saints almost paying the price for the unlikely success of Hapoel and Sparta and the unlikely failure of Inter, whose players were slammed by De Boer for having a poor attitude after the defeat to the Czech side.

Inter really are at the point of no return now in Group K. It’s either get some wins immediately to get back into this, or they are going out and may as well throw in the towel.

It seemed such an unlikely scenario at this stage following the group draw, but then football has a way of throwing up unexpected scenarios.

On the flip side, from a Saints point of view, four points from the Inter double header will leave them almost in the knockout rounds.

They will have virtually made it two from three in the group by condemning Inter to elimination if they produce a draw at the San Siro and a win at St Mary’s.

They will also be confident of tackling Sparta - even on the road given the hiding they gave them at St Mary’s – and Hapoel at home.

The Israelis were athletic and well organised, but out of that intimidating atmosphere and in the cold of December in England there is no reason to think Saints cannot beat them if they need to.

Before Sparta’s win over Inter, and based on the evidence of the performances we have seen against Saints thus far, you would have backed Hapoel to comfortably get at least four points from Sparta.

However, whether Sparta will now have a bit of renewed interest in the competition following an unlikely victory over Inter remains to be seen.

From their point of view, they will want to be in with a real chance of getting through the group after the two games with Hapoel, or there isn’t any point in them pushing too hard.

How those fixtures pan out will also have an impact, on attitude as much as anything else, going into the last two rounds of matches.

There is no doubt this is crunch time now.

For Inter, it’s no longer just entertaining what they will view as a smaller club from England. Their future in Europe this season is on the line.

For Saints a trip to the San Siro is no longer about just a bit of fun and glamour, it’s very serious business. The knockout stages could soon be within touching distance.