AEK v Bulls: who will triumph in UEFA clash?

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.