The step that will bring him closer to New Philadelphia and the “OPAP Arena” is looking for Olympic at “Vila Park”, where they are hosted by the mighty Aston Villa (22:00, Cosmote Sports, bwinSPORT FM, www.sportfm.gr) for the first semi-final between them European Conference League.
A step that will be taken if the “red and whites” do what few teams have managed to do this year, that is to leave with a result from the seat in question. If they do this, then they will probably start thinking about the rematch at “Georgios Karaiskakis” in a week “crazy dream” that their fans sing can come even closer to reality!
THE Aston Villa completed her preparation with several problems ahead of the first semi-final. Of course, there are the … permanent injuries since Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Jacob Ramsey have not been counted for some time. Yuri Tielemans, Emiliano Martines, Alex Moreno were added to them, while Niccolo Zaniolo is doubtful.
“We are now very excited about the Conference League and very motivated about the Premier League. It doesn’t change my first message when we started the season. The most important thing is the Premier League, then the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup and the Conference League and in case we get to the end of the season and keep playing in that, then of course the importance changes a bit. The priority is still the Premier League, but we will try to do our best in both competitions.”he said, among other things, at the press conference Unai Emerywho emphasized that he completely trusts him Robin Olsenwho will take the gloves of the main goalkeeper.
Aston Villa needed it in the previous round, after Lille deserved to qualify, but thanks to Dibou Martins and his penalty saves, the English team managed to get the ticket to the “4”. At home in the Premier League he has a record of 13-3-3 with goals 45-25, while in the Conference League this year he has 6/6!
THE Olympic is on good momentum, too. The recent victory over Lamia and the fact that he holds the fate in his hands for winning the championship has boosted his psychology, as well as the magical qualification against Fenerbahce in the previous round of the Conference League. THE Mendiliber he is happy to have most of his footballers at his disposal, with the only absentees being the punished Masoura and Doi. Especially the former, of course, is a significant loss since during the match he could provide, but the “red and white” have learned this year to… live with them. The young man is on a mission Previouswho is a key stopper in the Youth League-winning U19, as an extra solution since there are only two central defenders available.
The mission in detail: Tsikinio, El Kaabi, Ese, Ibora, Jovetich, Ortega, Paschalakis, Pontense, Kini, Papadoudis, Tzolakis, El Arabi, Carvalho, Fortunis, Carmo, Rodinei, Horta, Richards, Alexandropoulos, Retsos, Prekates.
As for the shots of the Basque technician, one position is played between three footballers. Ibora seems to have a slight lead to start in the midfield, but Horta, Jovetic are also vying for his place. As long as Ibora or Horta are used, not much changes in essence, but in the event that Jovetic gets a starting shirt, then he will move to “10” and Ciquinho to “6”, in a particularly aggressive formation.
“We have to have the calmness we had in the previous games too, we are playing against a very big Premier League team but we must not have that fear and that it is very difficult to beat them or that we are inferior. If we make this mistake we won’t achieve much, we came here with all due respect but also to win. If we change our approach because we are playing a Premier League team then we would become resilient and surely the opposition would take advantage of that and be better. So, no we will not change our style, we will be ourselves”Vaskos emphasized at the press conference.
POSSIBLE ELEVENS:
Aston Villa: Olsen – Cass, Konsa, Torres, Digne – Lewis, McGinn, Bailey, Diaby – Duran, Watkins.
Olympic: Tzolakis – Rodinei, Retsos, Carmo, Ortega – Ibora, Ese – Fortounis, Chiquinio, Pontense – El Caabi.
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
