Cerigo Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 This article has appeared in the Guardian newspaper in England: Athens final probably a step too far for AEK Athens By Barney Spender ATHENS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The Champions League final takes place in Athens next May but not even the most optimistic or die-hard fan of AEK Athens believes their team will be playing in the match on their home Olympic Stadium pitch. But AEK could well bring their fans plenty to cheer this season because they have a chance of advancing from the Group Stage after being bracketed with AC Milan, Lille and Anderlecht in the opening phase. With Milan almost certain to top the quartet, AEK, Lille and Anderlecht will be chasing second place and at worst third spot for a consolation UEFA Cup berth. And they showed by their 5-1 aggregate demolition of Scottish club Heart of Midlothian in the third qualifying round they are not just along for the ride. For a club that was facing financial extinction two years ago, reaching the Champions League is a big achievement and going any further in the competition would be a welcome bonus. To progress, however, AEK will need to improve on their previous Champions League performances. In the 2003-4 competition they went through the group stages scoring just a single goal while the previous year they managed to draw each of their six group games. Unbeaten they may have been but they still failed to go through. This year they have a new coach, Spaniard Lorenzo Serra Ferrer who takes over from Fernando Santos, now at Benfica. The signs against Hearts were promising although AEK's early season league form has been more of a concern. Any team with Greece international Traianos Dellas at the heart of the defence should prove awkward to break down but in midfield they will miss the steadying influence of Costas Katsouranis who has followed Santos to Portugal. The Brazilian, Emerson, formerly of Middlesbrough and Rangers among others, remains an influential figure and the Serbian Vladan Ivic will ensure some physicality in midfield. They have also recruited young Greek midfielder Panayiotis Lagos from Iraklis as well as Argentinian striker Gustavo Manduca on loan from their old friends at Benfica. He ought to provide back-up to 33-year-old Greece striker Nikos Liberopoulos in the goal-scoring department. Another Brazilian Julio Cesar -- not to be confused with the international who has joined Olympiakos -- also proved against Hearts that he has the kind of pace and flair on the flanks to trouble defences in Europe, scoring twice in the second leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akritis_1944 Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 This article has appeared in the Guardian newspaper in England: ...Manduca on loan from their old friends at Benfica. He ought to provide back-up to 33-year-old Greece striker Nikos Liberopoulos in the goal-scoring department. Liberopoulos is born in 1975 which makes him 31 NOT 33. In fact he only turned 31 a month ago.English jounalists and their sloppy fact checking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aekrossoponti Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 also manduca is brazilian not argentinian... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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