AEK’s must win game

AEK’s must win game

By Greg Gavalas

The 2020/21 season is off and running and when it comes to European competition, we find ourselves in uncharted territory as Greek Football fans.

Greece has dropped to 18th place in the Euro standings now after years of underperformance from most clubs but for one or two each season, generally just one, well everyone else has caught up and passed us now, including Cyprus who sit as high as 14th.

With the situation as it is every Euro club game involving a Greek team is been watched with much interest as the horrible run of under performance is getting to much and next up is AEK Athens!

AEK travel to Switzerland to take on St Gallen in the UEFA Europa League and as the game is based on one leg, AEK need nothing less than victory if they are to move to a playoff for the Group stages with what we expect to be Wolfsburg of Germany, a task in itself.

St Gallen, like AEK have only played one league game and they won that 1-0, not a great deal is known of them, but it is the home of Swiss Greek, Leonidas Stergiou, who has shown good promise there.

AEK has played a couple of competitive games be the Cup Final and Round 2 of the Greek Super League, a 1-0 loss and 2-0 win to show for it against Olympiakos and Panetolikos respectively.

AEK’s form has been inconsistent in the early stages of the season under the watchful eye of Italian coach, Massimo Carrera but he did state only last week, that AEK’s big goal is the Europa League Group stage so step one is clearly an away win in St Gallen.

It the Italian supremo has mixed his formations up from day one and it’s never clear which he will go with, I still stand by my words though, under a 4-2-3-1 AEK plays her best football, which turns into a 3-5-1 in attack.

AEK’s defence is still up for review, whish Manual Insua is a great addition to the left side of the defence, Centre Back is a weakness and veteran defender, Dmytro Chygrynskiy will need to lead the way with his partner.

Michalis Bakakis will need to have a big match on the right, his presence in attack can be useful but the midfield will need to be conscious of that and have some cover when he attacks to counter the counterattack from the Swiss.

In the midfield, AEK has had some issues with Nenad Krsticic and Andre Simoes already under some pressure with their transition play, they will need to be on their game so AEK can control possession. If Damian Szymanski plays, it will a welcome addition for the middle of the field

In attack now doubt AEK have some good weapons in Petros Mantalos and Marko Livaja, Mantalos changed the game on the weekend when the scores were at 0-0.

Livaja is a hot and cold play, can be cold for much of the game with little impact but given the right ball and opportunity he can change a game, he will need to be on the ball and ready for a big game if AEK are to win.

The question remains to be seen if new signings Levi Garcia and Bright Enobakhare will play tomorrow, their speed could be a telling factor, AEK has struggled on the wings for some time and that can change if these two players hit the ground running and form connections with Mantalos, Livaja, Nelson Oliveira and Karim Ansarifard, the latter will also be looking to make his mark on the club and he has a huge chance to do so in this match.

Christos Albanis is another attacking player AEK can call upon, like Matalos, he has proven a player that can change the game.

Hard to predict the line up but if the above names feature AEK is in with a good chance against a team they can beat, the game needs to be won for the club but also for Greece too.

Hellas Football 

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