Dis Thursday, OPAP Arena for Greece go hot as AEK Athens dey welcome Rayo Vallecano for Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg. The Spanish side carry big advantage after dem win first leg 3-0 for Vallecas. The Greek giants now dey look for miracle comeback.
AEK perform well for league phase, finish third after dem win four matches, draw one, lose one. Dem beat Celje 4-2 aggregate for last 16, but dem suffer heavy 3-0 loss for Spain last week. With no domestic match for weekend, AEK get full week to plan comeback strategy.
Marko Nikolic men don win five of dem seven Conference home matches dis season, including qualifiers. But only one of dose wins come with margin of three goals or more. Still, dem don win by at least three goals for four of dem previous six competitive home games, including 3-0 success against Kifisia for Allwyn Arena.
AEK dey hope say home advantage go inspire dem to overturn three-goal first-leg deficit for European tie. The last time dem do am na for 1976-77 UEFA Cup quarter-finals when dem fight back from three goals down beat Queens Park Rangers on penalties.
Rayo Vallecano advance straight to last-16 after finish fifth for league phase, level on 13 points with AEK. Los Franjirrojos back up strong league phase performance with 3-2 success over Turkish side Samsunspor for last 16.
For last week quarter-final first leg against AEK, Rayo claim commanding 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Ilias Akhomach, Unai Lopez and Isi Palazon. Dem now dey close to surpass dem efforts from 2000-01 UEFA Cup quarter-finals run. Los Franjirrojos just one match away from making first last-four appearance for European competition.
But Inigo Perez men go enter Greece on back of 3-0 away defeat against Mallorca. That loss leave dem for 13th spot for La Liga, just three points clear of bottom three. The result represent dem fifth defeat for past eight competitive away matches, though dem get confidence from fact say dem lose just one of dem five away games for Conference League dis season.
AEK dey face selection headache. Marko Grujic, Joao Mario, Robert Ljubicic and Hakim Sahabo no dey eligible after dem leave out from Conference League squad. Club captain Petros Mantalos set to miss second leg after muscle injury force am out at half time for Spain. Luka Jovic pick up third booking of competition for first leg, rule am out of return fixture due to suspension.
For Rayo side, Randy Nteka, Abdul Mumin, Joszhua Vertrouwd and Fran Perez all no dey eligible to feature for Conference League knockout rounds. Visitors dey hopeful say first-choice goalkeeper Augusto Batalla go fit shake off knock wey dem sustain for first leg.
After make changes for weekend, Perez fit decide to select same lineup wey start last week dominant first-leg performance. Possible AEK Athens starting lineup: Strakosha; Rota, Moukoudi, Relvas; Pilios; Koita, Pineda, Marin, Pereyra; Gacinovic; Varga. Possible Rayo Vallecano starting lineup: Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Felipe, Chavarria; Lopez, Ciss; Akhomach, Palazon, Garcia; De Frutos.
AEK top scorer Luka Jovic don find net 4 times, with Barnabas Varga and Harold Moukoudi get 3 each. Leading assistor na Razvan Marin with 3, while goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha get one clean sheet. For Rayo side, Jorge de Frutos top score with 3, while Alexandre Zurawski and Alvaro Garcia follow with 2. Alvaro Garcia and Isi Palazon manage 2 assists for last 10 games, while Augusto Batalla get 3 clean sheets to im name.
The match go broadcast live at 20:00 on TNT Sports. AEK go have to take risks to overturn three-goal deficit, but that go leave space for Rayo to exploit. With home advantage and strong recent home form, Greek side dey under pressure to produce special performance.
Do you have a news tip for NNN? Please email us at editor @ nnn.ng
