Two clubs in Pot 4 face off for their league phase opener in the Champions League on Tuesday, as AEK Athens play host to LASK Linz at AEK Arena. Both teams came through the playoff round to reach the continent’s premier club competition, with debutants LASK overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit and 4-0 aggregate disadvantage to stun Celtic and reach the Champions League proper for the first time. Match preview While LASK are reaching this level of Champions League football for the first time in their history, AEK Athens are returning to the continent’s top-tier club competition for the first time in almost a decade. Marko Nikolic’s men kept a pair of clean sheets against Levski Sofia in the playoff round, scoring a stunning four times in Athens to secure a 4-0 aggregate success and return to the big time in Europe for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Yet to lose a game in 90 minutes since the start of the new campaign, the defending Greek champions have kept four clean sheets in their seven matches played across multiple competitions so far, scoring two or more goals in five of their fixtures. Heading into Tuesday on the back of a stunning 5-0 hammering of Aris at the weekend, strong metrics in both boxes stand them in good stead ahead of their return to the continent’s top competition.
With a league phase run including matches against Real Madrid and Manchester City as well as encounters with Roma and Borussia Dortmund, Enosi will be hoping to start strongly at LASK’s expense. © Iconsport / Manuel Binder / GEPA Pictures
Unlike their hosts, the Austrian champions needed something resembling a miracle to defy the odds and reach this stage in Europe’s premier club competition for the first time. Losing 3-0 at Celtic Park was bad enough, but Dietmar Kuhbauer’s side found themselves 1-0 down on the night on home soil and 4-0 behind on aggregate before Moses Usor levelled before the break. Still trailing 4-1 on aggregate, Die Laskler needed to score three times without reply to force extra time, and that was exactly what the Black-Whites achieved in Linz before Samuel Adeniran netted a winner in the 109th minute to secure the victory. It was no less than LASK deserved on a night when they accumulated a staggering 10 big chances from 40 shot attempts in 120 minutes, and their reward was a first appearance in the big time. Kuhbauer’s men have not let up since they broke new ground, notching three consecutive wins in league and cup and averaging four goals per match after Austrian Bundesliga wins over Altach (3-0), WAC (3-1) and an OFB Cup hammering of DSC (6-1). Now, Die Laskler hope to carry the same goalscoring form into Tuesday’s trip to Athens ahead of a European debut that includes visits to Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon and Bodo/Glimt.
AEK Athens form (all competitions):
LASK Linz form (all competitions):
Team News
© Imago / One Inch Productions
While AEK have no suspended players heading into Tuesday, the Greek giants are without the ineligible Dereck Kutesa, Frantzdy Pierrot, Martin Georgiev, Christos Alexiou and Hakim Sahabo, all of whom are not in the squad for the league phase. From those expected to play, Barnabas Varga and Luka Jovic make up Enosi’s leading attacking threats, with Varga scoring in four consecutive games heading into this week’s fixture, including a brace in the 4-0 success over Levski Sofia in the playoff round. As for the visitors, Christoph Lang is Die Laskler’s leading goalscorer in the league with five goals, but the forward surprisingly did not find the net in the roaring turnaround against Celtic a fortnight ago. Instead, Samuel Adeniran, who netted two, and Usor, scorer and provider, were the Austrian outfit’s heroes in the stunning victory. Ramiz Harakate is missing through a long-term knee injury suffered in July, while Art Smakaj and Cheikne Kebe are ineligible.
AEK Athens possible starting lineup:
Strakosha; Rota, Moukoudi, Relvas, Pilios; Majer, Marin, Vitalis, Koita; Varga, Jovic
LASK Linz possible starting lineup:
Jungwirth; Mbuyamba, Tornich, Andrade; Jorgensen, Ljubicic, Bogarde, Horvath, Bello; Usor, Lang
We say: AEK Athens 3-1 LASK Linz Although LASK Linz arrive full of confidence following their miraculous turnaround against Celtic and a barrage of goals domestically, stepping into the hostile environment of AEK Arena represents a monumental leap in class. With Varga and Jovic in deadly form and Enosi boasting a formidable defensive record this term, the Greek heavyweights have the requisite quality to overwhelm the debutants and secure all three points. For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
