Naija football fans, make una gather round. The Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg dey set for Thursday, and the matter serious well well. AZ Alkmaar from Holland go host Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine for the AFAS Stadion. The Dutch side, wey dem dey call ‘Cheese Farmers‘, don carry heavy load for back. Last week for Krakow, Poland, Shakhtar just hammer dem three-zero for the first leg. All three goals come inside the last 18 minutes of that match. So AZ dey enter this return leg with three-goal deficit. Na serious mountain wey dem wan climb.
For Shakhtar side, dem dey smell semi-final. The last time dem reach European semi-final na for 2019-20 Europa League when Inter Milan cut dem. But now, with Pedrinho and Alisson Santana wey score the three goals for the first leg, dem get strong advantage. History dey their side. Shakhtar don progress from all eight previous European ties wey dem get three-goal lead after first leg. Their away record for this competition no be joke. Dem don win their last five away matches for Conference League and no dey lose for all eight trips. Dem just draw two.
But AZ Alkmaar no dey look the other way. Their coach, Lee Roy Echteld, get small hope. Over the weekend, dem beat Heerenveen three-zero for Eredivisie. That win make dem climb to sixth position for their league. That na the kind scoreline wey dem need again on Thursday to at least force extra time. More so, dem don win their last seven home matches for AFAS Stadion. For the last three of those wins, dem don carry two-goal lead by half-time. So dem know say early goal na key.
AZ defense go need to tight well well. For their last six matches, only one team dey score. All four of their wins for that period come with clean sheet. Three of those wins be by three goals or more. But dem dey miss some players. Peer Koopmeiners, Jizz Hornkamp and Denso Kasius dey injured. Coach Echteld dey switch between 3-4-3 and 4-2-3-1 formation. Troy Parrott dey lead attack, with Sven Mijnans behind am. These two players contribute well for the weekend win.
Shakhtar get their own wahala. Eguinaldo, wey score for the weekend Ukrainian league match against LNZ Cherkasy, get injury concern. Isaque Silva still dey recover from concussion wey e get for first leg. Dmytro Kryskiv and Marlon Gomes fit miss their sixth straight match. Their coach, Arda Turan, see his team draw 2-2 with Cherkasy on Monday, even though dem lead twice. That result leave Shakhtar second for Ukrainian league, behind Cherkasy on head-to-head record.
Shakhtar last competitive visit to AZ Alkmaar end with 2-1 loss. But that one na past. The present reality be say Shakhtar get three-goal cushion and strong away form. AZ home form dey give dem hope, but to overturn three goals against team wey no dey lose away for Conference League na big, big challenge. The match go hot. AZ go try to threaten comeback, but Shakhtar attacking consistency fit help dem protect their advantage and book semi-final ticket.
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