Lutsescu’s thoughts on the velodrome and what he expects from his players

When Razvan Lutsescu was asked after the end of the game against Panathinaikos what he expected from his players in view of Thursday’s game against Marseille, the PAOK coach stood his ground. “What I expect is to give 200% against a quality opponent”replied the Romanian coach, who has already started to keep his footballers’ fighting spirit at a high level.

Lucescu knows that the challenge facing PAOK is historic, despite the difficulties his team will face against Marseille, who seem to be in the best shape since the beginning of this season.

The Romanian will work with his players in Thessaloniki today and tomorrow, preparing for the first quarter-final against the French at his headquarters. These final two training sessions will finalize his plans ahead of Thursday’s big game. (7/4, 22:00, COSMOTE SPORT 2 HD and LIVE from Sportish).

Lyratzis, Tsingaras and Augusto can be seen in the main shot

They include Lefteris Lyratzis, who was absent from the game against Panathinaikos and Angel Crespo. The Spaniard will be the duo in stoppers alongside Ingi Ingasson as long as he doesn’t continue to face any inconveniences, while Lyratzis will play with Vierinias at the ends of the defence.

In midfield, Kurtic and Tsigaras will have plenty to do at Velontrom, but also with the help of Douglas Augusto, who was also resting on Avenue and will return to the starting XI to complete the trio of midfielders. Leading the attack is Tsuba Akpom with Andrija Zivkovic on one side and Diego Biseswar on the other.