AEK made the first step towards Champions League groups when they eliminated Dinamo Zagreb with an epic post-match at OPAP Arena. In the playoffs of the top European club competition, they now meet Belgian club Antwerpen. The first act of their duel will take place on Tuesday in Beausville (22 August, 10:00 p.m., COSMOTE SPORT 2 HD and LIVE on Sportish).

Matias Almeida’s team got into the process of playing midweek and weekend games in the most difficult way, because on Saturday they played at home not against Panaitolikos for the Stoiximan Super League, but against Dinamo Zagreb after the Calendar readjusted due to killing of AEK’s friend. Michaelis Katsuuri. An obviously more challenging obstacle that got her into trouble early on.

Three days after the great night in New Philadelphia, Union meets Antwerp, whom they are fortunately able to ‘know’ as they faced them in a pre-season friendly and won 3-0 in a two-hour friendly.

Of course, this friendly shouldn’t be a ‘celebration’ for each game, as both teams will be much better prepared and different, as Matias Almeida pointed out at the press conference. Antwerp has already played five games in national competitions. He won the Belgian Super Cup on penalties and has seven points in four games in the league.

Matias Almeida wants to see his players react to the Belgians’ pace, to show the face they had in the last few minutes against Dinamo Zagreb, where they were very reminiscent of last year’s team, and of course to correct the defensive spelling mistakes, that the Croats showed .

The possible eleven of AEK against Antwerp

As far as faces go, there was the expected change as Ezequiel Ponce was added to the list instead of Tom Van Weert. Otherwise there was no change as Union played with the same players and Almeida brought 23 players to Belgium. As for the XI, the Argentine boss has no cards but is expected to make changes, most likely two or three.

Recall that in the second game against Dinamo Zagreb, the Argentine coach made two changes compared to the first game, placing Amrabat and Rota on the right flank instead of Eliasson and Sidibe. With the same recipe he will compete against the Belgians.

Stankovic will sit under the rafters. The center of the defense will consist of Vida and Mukudi, while the ends can switch and someone from Rota – Hadjisafi – might not play. The Iranian full-back made both appearances for Dinamo so it’s likely he will be replaced by Mohammadi while Sidibe is also battling for a place in the starting XI.

In the favorite axis are Szymanski – Jonsson, but it is possible that Pineda will compete there. If the Mexican plays on axis, Gacinovic will play on the left flank, otherwise Pineda stays in that position. Amrabat and Eliasson claim the position on the right flank, while the duo of Zuber and Garcia may remain at the top.

The only certainty is that Almeida will make changes to manage the squad due to Dinamo’s back-to-back games.

AEK’s squad for the game against Antwerp: Stankovic, Athanasiadis, Ginis, Mukudi, Mohammadi, Rota, Vida, Mitoglou, Hadjisafi, Sidibe, Simanski, Jonson, Gatsinovic, Pineda, Mandalos, Galanopoulos, Amrabat, Garcia, Zuber, Araujo, Ponce, Eliasson, Pizarro.

A “pioneer” on her way

Antwerp want to qualify for the Champions League groups for the first time in their history. The Belgian champions have appeared in one European final, most notably the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 192/83, when they lost to Parma.

It will be coached by Marc Van Bommel, who has had a great career as a footballer and wants to do the same as a manager, aiming to lead Antwerp to the group stage after the double in Belgium. Its ranks include veteran footballers such as captain Toby Alderweireld and 29-year-old striker Vincent Janssen.

At the same time, they also have some talented players, such as 18-year-old midfielder ARtur Vermeeren, who has a transfer market value of €17m. In general, he tries to play fast and own the ball.