In the words of the well-known Italian football journalist and transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, “Here we go!”

The longest bout of shadow boxing in GAA history, arguably, is over. The gloves are finally off this weekend and there will be some knockout blows landed.

The players of Galway and Mayo must have been wondering just how it came to this during the week.

Playing your biggest rival in a preliminary quarter-final was the last thing on both sets of players’ minds when they were travelling to their respective games last Sunday morning.

The last time these two met in Salthill was in the Connacht final in November 2020, at an empty and soulless Pearse Stadium.

I was struggling for form after returning from a cruciate ligament injury a few months earlier and did not make the matchday 26, which was gutting.

To add insult, Covid rules at the time meant that players outside the 26 weren’t allowed to go to the game. Thus followed probably the most surreal experience of my inter-county career - sitting at home, screaming at the TV like a madman while watching my teammates hang on to win by a point.

Interestingly, that day Mayo were five points up five minutes into the second half and looked to be cruising. With the lead cut to two points, it took a cynical tackle by Eoghan McLaughlin, with Sean Kelly bearing down on goal, to save the day for them.

How Kevin McStay must have wished that Colm O’Callaghan was hauled down earlier on his run which led to the Cork penalty last Sunday. Even still, he couldn’t have foreseen the turnaround that subsequently unfolded.

This isn’t the first time Mayo have struggled with big leads this year. During the League, they let a five-point lead slip and drew with Armagh; a few weeks later they had an eight-point second half lead against Roscommon but still relied on a last-ditch block from Diarmuid O’Connor to win the game.

Against Louth in Castlebar they were saved by the referee’s whistle after a five-point lead was reduced to one in injury time. It’s an issue that Mayo now don’t have time to solve.

But regardless of what’s happened up to now, it’s all about tomorrow for these two teams and staying alive in the Championship.

Galway were top of most people’s power rankings before last Sunday but now, like their opponents, they look vulnerable.

Sean Kelly’s injury is a huge concern and he looked to be in distress coming off last Sunday.

I think it’s very unlikely that he will make it and he would be a major loss for them. The fitness of Damien Comer and Dylan McHugh is also a concern, but I would expect both to be involved in some capacity.

The biggest worry I would have for Galway is with their full-back line. The loss of Liam Silke really showed last Sunday.

Johnny McGrath is in his first year of inter-county football and Jack Glynn hasn’t quite hit the heights of last year just yet.

The biggest surprise from last Sunday was the positioning of Cian Hernon at full-back. He was like a fish out of water and struggled hugely with Andrew Murnin. Mayo will be quite happy if he picks up Aidan O’Shea tomorrow.

I am still not convinced with Conor Gleeson’s qualities as a goalkeeper; Armagh made him very uncomfortable at times.

The big feeling in Mayo is that a shake-up is needed with team selection. I feel they require more pace at the back; Sam Callinan will come in to pick up Shane Walsh and Enda Hession will likely start too.

Cillian McDaid is a huge threat for Galway from midfield and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Paddy Durcan given the job of tagging him from the start.

Up front, the time is ripe for Tommy Conroy to start and Cillian O’Connor should be coming in with 20 minutes to go.

Losing this game is unthinkable for both teams but elimination will be a reality for one of them tomorrow.

Anything is possible, but I think Mayo will come out fighting and do enough to get through.

Donegal turnaround set to continue

What a turnaround Donegal have had in their season. If they win this game and get to the last eight it will be one of the stories of the Championship considering the turmoil they were in a few months ago.

I was really impressed with their performance against Monaghan and the quality of some of their scores from Conor O’Donnell, Daire O Baoill and Ciaran Thompson were of the highest order.

Aidan O’Rourke and Paddy Bradley deserve huge credit for the turnaround, but how they would love to take out the old enemy Tyrone this evening.

Take the sparkling form of Darragh Canavan away and this has been a very underwhelming season so far for Tyrone.

When I was playing, Tyrone were horrible to play against. They now look like a team that you wouldn’t mind facing up to at all. We have been waiting for Tyrone to come back into form for 18 months - it feels like now or never for them.

There will be huge home support in Ballybofey and that could be the difference coming down the stretch. A win for Donegal would have been unthinkable not so long ago. Much less so now.

Roscommon dropping off at the worst possible time

While much of the focus last Sunday was on Mayo’s collapse, Cork’s renaissance was the real story.

The Rebels now look like a team ready to make a breakthrough. They are arguably the form side coming into this tie. They beat Louth followed, pushed Kerry all the way and then, of course, came that win over Mayo.

Roscommon, on the other hand, looked impressive against Dublin but their form has dipped since against Sligo and Kildare.

I thought Davy Burke’s comments after the Kildare loss, when he questioned whether his players had gone soft on him, were strange. It was like he was trying to distance himself from the defeat against his native county.

For John Cleary and his team, he must see this as an opportunity to restore Cork football to the big time.

On current form, I believe they will have enough to get the win.

Monaghan can bounce back

Kildare are the only team not to enjoy the benefit of home advantage after finishing second in the group due to the redevelopment of St Conleth’s Park.

They must have been buzzing in training this week due to the nature of their last gasp win against Roscommon, though they have really struggled to put back-to-back performances together this year.

Monaghan, after a good start in their group, will be disappointed with the performance against Donegal but I think they are the better team here and will bounce back to get the win.