FLIGHT HV8819 carried the Scotland team into Dortmund just before lunchtime yesterday.

Some turbulence during the trip required all passengers to return to their seats and buckle up. Shortly before touchdown another message warned that the airport runway was short so "the landing may be harder than usual". Everything about Scotland's opening Euro 2016 qualifying tie in Germany tonight, even the journey to it, is tough.

Football hipsters purr over German football, with its cheap tickets, its vast, packed stadiums, its youth, and its high-energy, mesmerising style of play. It is the nation which was getting so much wrong it delivered root-and-branch reform and transformed itself into world champions for the fourth time.

When Darren Fletcher sat down to discuss tonight's game he didn't concentrate on any of that. Instead he spoke with gushing admiration about a player he won't even face in this fixture, praising the qualities he shows which, in Fletcher's view, reflected all German football.

The celebratory photographs of Bastian Schweinsteiger with the World Cup show more than just a footballer who has reached the pinnacle. They give a little hint at the sacrifice and struggle he made to get there.

The Bayern Munich powerhouse suffered a bad cut below the eye during the final against Argentina but he played on. The wound was clearly visible as he cavorted around with the trophy. Fletcher watched that and admired him more than ever.

"I think that's the way you want to lift the World Cup, having battled and earned it. I can picture him now, with that cut and bruised eye, going up to lift the World Cup. That for me shows he's been through a battle to do it which speaks volumes for the guy as a fantastic player. It's a big blow for Germany that he's out for this game, but a good thing for us."

Fletcher has been through a quieter battle and triumph of his own. For the first time in three years he is able to say he no longer suffers from ulcerative colitis, the serious bowel condition for which he has twice had surgery. The condition ate into his career but the treatment has been a success.

"I don't have the condition any more, it's not even a case of being 'on top of it'. That's a result of the operation. I feel fantastic now."

It is a stirring phrase to hear from the 30-year-old captain on the eve of his seventh qualifying campaign as part of the Scotland midfield. Manchester United have not played Borussia Dortmund since 1997, meaning the vast Signal Iduna Park, better known as the Westfalenstadion, is one of the few giant European arenas he has yet to experience.

In all meaningful senses Fletcher has been through all of this before. He is sufficiently battle-hardened to know exactly how tonight's game will unfold, to appreciate Germany's clear superiority and the sort of gruelling night Scotland can expect.

"You've got to accept that Germany will have long spells of possession and we're going to have to be disciplined and play as a team. Whatever percentage we have of the ball, we've spoken about trying to be positive when we do get it.

"That doesn't mean trying to play the killer pass every time. But can we get a few passes under our belt and get a bit of confidence? Can we get players into attacking areas? Can we get players making runs from deep to cause problems and not just absorb pressure for 90 minutes? You have to pick your moments.

"It's the most difficult game in the group, away to Germany, but we hope and we believe we can go there and get a result. If not, there is still a long way to go in the campaign."