AEL in pole position tonight in Ireland

AFTER a 3-0 first leg victory over Northern Ireland’s Linfield, Cypriot champions AEL are well positioned heading into the return leg of their UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie tonight Wednesday at Windsor Park in Belfast.

“The first leg was obviously a match in itself. This is the main reason why we must remain focused and approach the second leg as seriously as possible, because in football you never know what can happen,” said AEL manager Pambos Christodoulou

“It is a tricky match and our opponents have nothing to lose. We need to be disciplined and I firmly believe that if we stick to our game plan we should have no problems in progressing into the next round,” Christodoulou added.

“Our goal is to advance to the group stage of the competition through these qualifiers and our potential next opponent is an ideal one for this team to break some traditions and earn a place where I think we rightfully belong.”

The Limassol side have been drawn to face Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round should the Serbians defend their 4-1 first leg win over Maltese champions Valletta FC as expected.

However, Charalambous made sure to point out that his players’ focus must be on Linfield: “I have not heard anyone in the dressing room talking about Partizan,” he said.

“The only thing we did, as technical staff, was talk to some colleagues of mine and watch a few of their games.

“Players must be fully focused on the game ahead of us and should we progress we will have plenty of time to discuss Partizan all together.”

AEL flew to Northern Ireland without their director of football Rui Junior who remained in Cyprus in order to complete the club’s final transfer for this summer.

Apparently there is a verbal agreement between a 24-year-old forward and the club and, if no unexpected problems arise in the next few days, the acquisition should be completed. No names have been released.

At the press conference ahead of their return leg in Belgrade on Monday night, Partizan’s manager Vladimir Vermezovic stated that his team’s 4-1 victory in Malta was due to his players’ performance and not because the hosts are a weak team.

He also said that his team will go for another victory, but has warned his players to try and avoid any injuries as their probable next round opponents, the Cypriot champions, could be very difficult to overcome.

Cyprus Mail