AEK prepared for Champions League battle against Vidi
AEK prepared for Champions League battle against Vidi
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - PLAYOFF ROUND (LEG 1)
AEK Athens travel to Hungary for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League playoff round against MOL Vidi FC with the goal of taking the initiative. AGONAsport previews the duel.
Coming into this season’s Champions League, no one really expected Vidi (previously known as Videoton) to ruffle any feathers, but the Hungarian league winners have shown admirable grit and determination to knock out Dudelange, Ludogorets and Malmo on their way to the playoffs. Vidi were underdogs against highly fancied Ludogorets and Malmo, but they were tight in defence and used their chances in attack, edging past the two clubs 1:0 and 1:1 on away goals respectively. Just to prove how watertight Vidi’s back line is, they’ve only conceded a mere three goals in six qualifying matches so far.
In the previous rounds, Vidi played their Champions League matches at the Pancho Arena while their Sostoi Stadium undergoes reconstruction in Szekesfehervar, but UEFA ordered them to move to the Groupama Arena in Budapest for the games against AEK.
AEK were handed a tough draw in the third qualifying phase against Celtic, but the Enosis displayed their quality in the two matches, grabbing a valuable 1:1 draw in Scotland with Viktor Klonaridis’ vital away goal and defeating Celtic 2:1 in Athens as Rodrigo Galo and Marko Livaja hit the jackpot. The Kitrinomavri defence was rock solid against the Scots, however it will be a totally different test against Vidi, as AEK will probably have more possession while the Hungarian club wait for counterattack opportunities. In his pre-match press-conference, head coach Marinos Ouzounidis touched upon the important of being alert to the danger when Vidi have a chance to break.
At the weekend, Vidi picked up their second win of the 2018/2019 Hungarian season, thrashing Honved 3:0 on the road. In four matches, they have two wins and two draws, currently occupying fifth place of the table. Ferencvaros lead the way with 13 points compared to Vidi’s eight.
TEAM NEWS: VIDI
Vidi boss Marko Nikolic has a full strength squad without any major injuries worrying him. Despite Vidi’s lack of experience in the Champions League, former Zenit Saint Petersburg stars Danko Lazovic and Szabolcs Huszti have competed successfully at this level in the past, so they will be expected to take a leading role. 35-year old defender and captain Roland Juhasz has played plenty of European football with Anderlecht.
Possible line-up: Kovacsik, Fiola, Juhasz, Vinicius, Stopira, Patkai, Nikolov, Nego, Kovacs, Lazovic, Scepovic.
TEAM NEWS: AEK
Plagued by injuries, boss Ouzounidis was forced to leave the stricken Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Lucas Boye and Christos Almpanis at home and will hope to have them available for the second leg at the Olympic Stadium. On the other hand, left-back Helder Lopes recovered in time and young midfielder Konstantinos Galanopoulos is back from suspension. Vasilis Barkas will stand in goal with the central defensive partnership of Vasilis Lampropoulos and Marios Oikonomou in front of him.
Possible line-up: Barkas, Bakakis, Lampropoulos, Oikonomou, Hult, Simoes, Galanopoulos, Mantalos, Klonaridis, Bakasetas, Livaja.
REFEREE: GIANLUCA ROCCHI (ITA)
Well-known Italian Gianluca Rocchi is the man charged with the task of keeping control of the first leg in Hungary. Last year, the 44-year old refereed the UEFA Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Manchester United, also overseeing the Atletico Madrid-Arsenal UEFA Europa League semi-final.
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Rocchi was the main referee for the Portugal-Spain, Japan-Senegal and Brazil-Mexico matches, dishing out a total of 13 yellow cards and giving one penalty. Back on December 17, 2009, Rocchi managed AEK’s 1:2 defeat to Benfica in Lisbon in the Europa League group stage.
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant referees: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA), Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Fourth official: Fabiano Preti (ITA)
Additional assistant referees: Luca Banti (ITA), Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
WHERE TO WATCH
Watch the match live on AGONAsport here, available worldwide except in Greece and Cyprus! Full TV listings for Greece, the USA, Canada and Australia can be found on this link.
by Shaun Nicolaides
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