THE Andreas Dimatos commented on the… messages that AEK receives from three of its six potential opponents for the Champions League qualifiers.
With a long post, the former communication director of the “yellow and black” analyzed the first image, stressing that the news is “rather optimistic”.
In detail, what he wrote:
“Rather optimistic (although still quite premature) is the news for AEK from the first image presented by three of its six potential opponents in the first matches in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
Of the six potential opponents of AEK in the third qualifying round, as the drawing board for July 24 is currently configured, three are a foregone conclusion, because they start from the second qualifying round and their matches will not have been played until the day of the draw.
We refer to Dinamo Zagreb (will enter the draw together with the team that will qualify from the pair of the first qualifier Astana – Dinamo Tbilisi), Galatasaray (pair in the draw with the team that will qualify from Zalgiris Vilnius – Struga) and Copenhagen (along with the team that will qualify from Shamrock Rovers – Breidblick).
The other three theoretically strong third qualifiers to take part in the July 24 draw, which will reveal the pair that will emerge the opponent of the Greek champions, will have to qualify from the first qualifier they are participating in and have already played their first a match with a problematic image against theoretically much weaker opponents. Something, of course, that has proven to be of little importance when we are talking about such serious competitive obligations in the heart of summer…
Hungarian champions Ferencvaros remain clear favorites to qualify, but failed to beat Faroe Islands champions Ki in Klaksvik and settled for a goalless draw in their first European match of the year.
Things improved for champions Azerbaijan Qarabag who beat Gibraltar champions Lincoln Red Ibs away but needed the last minute of stoppage time to make it a 1-2 final and hope they will not face a problem in the second leg at home.
Things were more difficult for Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava, who settled for a 1-1 home draw with Luxembourg champions amateur Swifts, of course playing a full half with ten men.
If any of these three champions (Ferencvaros, Qarabag and Slovan Bratislava) fall victim to a surprise in the return matches of the first qualifier next week, then the top six… of two speeds of AEK’s potential rivals will be the Norwegian champions Molde, as a pair with her opponent in the second qualifier.
In any case for AEK, precisely because the six possible opponents are divided into two speed of capacity (on the one hand Dynamo, Copenhagen and Galata and on the other Karabagh, Slovan and Ferencvaros) the formation of the two subgroups of the draw will play a big role , which will logically be announced on the morning of July 24.
Two subgroups with six teams (three strong and three theoretically weak), one of which will have two of the three strongest teams and the other only one of Dinamo, Galata and Ferencvaros. AEK, if they maintain the lowest coefficient of the draw until then, are likely to find themselves in the toughest subgroup.
The detail, of course, is that if one of the three strongest competitive teams of the third qualifying round is on her way, then as a pair with her she will participate as a strong one in the draw of the playoffs of the competition, in which she will participate on August 7, after not she will have played her matches for the third qualifier by then…
In that case, he may again have Ferencvaros, Qarabag and Slovan Bratislava as potential opponents along with Belgian champions Antwerp, who he recently faced in the pre-season…
However, the picture of the first games of the season for the Champions League confirms that in the summer and even so early in mid-July, most meetings are ambiguous and that what counts is mainly the degree of readiness and not so much the name, transfer additions or even and the market value of the rosters.
For AEK there is, of course, the peculiarity that its opponent on August 8 or 9 and 15 will have played, unlike the Greek champions, given two or maybe four European matches during the summer. It is also a given that whatever her draw is on July 24, Matias Almeida will have the opportunity to watch both matches of the second qualifying pair from which her opponent will emerge.
The European summer has already begun!
Source: Sport Fm
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