Mantalos unavailable for Champions League battle in Glasgow
In a major blow to AEK Athens’ UEFA Champions League preparations, captain Petros Mantalos has been ruled out of the third qualifying round first leg against Celtic.
Watch LIVE from AGONAsport AEK's first leg matchup against Celtic in UEFA Champions League qualifying on Wednesday, August 8th. Details here.
During Sunday’s training session in Spata, 26-year old Mantalos felt a niggle in his right thigh, an injury which has duly prevented the influential midfielder from taking part in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round in Glasgow. It’s created another headache for AEK boss Marinos Ouzounidis, who was already unable to call upon the services of injured Ukrainian defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy. Mantalos will have a scan tomorrow to see whether he will be available for the return fixture against Celtic on August 14.
AEK’s coaching staff will take these 21 players to Glasgow for the Champions League third qualifying round tie against Celtic:
Goalkeepers: Vasilis Barkas, Panagiotis Tsintotas, Serafeim Giannikoglou.
Defenders: Michalis Bakakis, Helder Lopes, Marios Oikonomou, Vasilis Lampropoulos, Rodrigo Galo, Uros Cosic, Niklas Hult.
Midfielders: Andre Simoes, Anastasios Bakasetas, Viktor Klonaridis, Konstantinos Galanopoulos, Erik Moran, Alef.
Forwards: Christos Almpanis, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Marko Livaja, Ezequiel Ponce, Lucas Boye.
BAKAKIS SET TO STAY
In other news, AEK are close to extending Michalis Bakakis’ contract which is due to expire in 2019. Despite receiving plenty of offers from Turkish and Dutch clubs, the Kitrinomavri are intent on keeping the talented left-back, offering the 27-year old a new deal.
Bakakis enjoyed a superb 2017/2018 campaign, playing in 25 Super League matches and impressing with excellent performances to help AEK win the Greek title, in turn earning a call-up to the Greek national team. His value is rated at 1.5 million on Transfermarkt.
YOUNG PROSPECT MALAI SIGNS
AEK have completed the signing of 19-year old Konstantinos Malai from Palliniakos, however the teenager will spend the 2018/2019 season on loan at Trikala in the Football League for his debut campaign at a professional level. Last season, Malai was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of a regional championship with Palliniakos and was gifted a three-year contract with AEK.
AJDAREVIC LEAVING
Albanian midfielder Astrit Ajdarevic is edging towards a move to Swedish club IFK Goteborg. Since joining AEK in January 2017 from Orebro SK, the 28-year old has struggled to make an impression in Athens, often keeping the bench warm. Enosis manager Ouzounidis isn’t a fan of Ajdarevic and AEK are searching for ways to sell him sooner rather than later.
Goteborg are the favourites to land Ajdarevic and a deal will be concluded in the near future.
