UEFA CUP 2007/2008, First Round first leg. AEK Athens v Red Bull Salzburg, Thursday 20 September 2007 – 7:00 pm Greek Time, Olympic Stadium Athens.
Thursday’s first leg of the 2007/2008 UEFA Cup first round is rapidly approaching. AEK Athens and Red Bull Salzburg are to battle it out over 180 minutes in the next fortnight for a spot in the group stages.
The tie is agonisingly close to call but both sides have reason to be confident:
AEK Athens can point to:
Previous European experience An impressive squad with several household names 50,000 fanatical home fans Acclimatisation to late Greek summer weather
Red Bull Salzburg can point to:
10 League matches already The second leg in Salzburg Advantage on the Bulls Arena’s artificial pitch
Further fascinating info about AEK Athens:
Did you know that…..?
..... in their 2007/2008 squad, AEK Athens have a large South American contingent consisting of five Brazilians and three Argentineans.
.... one of Greece’s brightest young talents, Panagiotis Lagos, is also in the AEK Athens squad. The 22 year-old can already list six international matches and four Champions League encounters on his CV.
.....AEK Athens have finished runners-up in both of the previous two league seasons. They were second to Olympiacos both times and also finished one spot ahead of their other great rivals Panathinaikos on both occasions.
....AEK Athens’ poorest ever league performances (in 1984 and 1987) ended with them finishing 7th in the end of season table!
.....AEK Athens were unfortunate to exit the Champions League group stage last season, picking up 8 points and even conquering AC Milan 1-0 in the Olympic
.....Salzburg faced AEK Athens in the 1994/1995 Champions League group stage, winning 3-1 in Athens and drawing the return tie 0-0 in Salzburg. Interestingly Ajax and AC Milan, the other teams in the group, went on to contest the final against each other.
