Europa League News: Aris Salonika versus Bayer Leverkusen - Preview
Bayer Leverkusen will be a team with a mission when they lineup on the field at Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium. They will be a team that will have the task of beating a club that has been undefeated at their home in a European match
since 1968.
With Aris Thessaloniki’s ready to defend their amazing record it is expected that this will be quite an interesting encounter.
Bayer Levekusen are on an amazing run this season after having acquired the 4th position in their domestic league, Bundesliga last season. This season they are doing even better than that as they are at the 3rd position,
breathing down the necks of Borussia Dortmund and Mainz.
Even in the Europa League, Bayer continues to progress with excellent form. They are yet to be defeated in the group stages after winning the first two fixtures of Europa League. With and a victory against Wolfsburg at the weekend
it is expected that all this will fuel as the perfect catalyst for the victory as they journey up to Greece.
To further boost their confidence their midfielder Simon Rolfes has made a return to football after being absent for a long time because of an injury. He has made a brilliant comeback as he helped in scoring all 3 goals against
Wolves last Saturday.
Bayer made an astonishing comeback in the Wolves game therefore it is expected that they cope with pressure which presents them with a huge advantage in the game.
Rolfes has stated that the whole team was confident of a victory and had firm belief in their capabilities. He also commented on Aris’ invincibleness saying, “We are going there to end Aris' home record. Games like this, where
you have got to deal with another culture and mentality, are what give spice to European cup matches.”
Despite the amazing record which shows Aris to be undefeated in European matches for 42 years, they were defeated quite convincingly just last weekend; moreover that occurred in the presence of their home fans.
Nonetheless Bayer Leverkusen’s Director of Sports Rudi Voller has uttered that the 4-0 defeat by AEK Athens, which happens to be one of the best in the 6 league matches will usher them to perform even more fiercely and earn a deserved
victory.
While talking to media he stated, “The Greeks are certainly going to be highly motivated. Their fans will be demanding revenge for what happened at the weekend.”
On the other hand this forced Aris to drop steps to the 4th position in the Greek Super League. After this, they are 6 points behind the leaders of the table Olympiacos. With just a single victory and a loss in Europe
the club can’t afford to lose any more matches.
Rolfes will certainly be a man in the spot light. He came on as a substitute in the final 20 minutes of the weekend game. The German international has informed that he has eagerly awaited his return to football since January and
hopes that he will please his fans and team with his performance.
He is not the only man who was on the long term injury list. As a matter of fact Bayer has many other stars that currently have their names resting on that list and they include; Michael Ballack, Stefan Kiessling, Gonzalo Castro
and Renato Augusto.
All these men were not aboard when the squad left for Greece to compete. Voller has articulated that in spite of this the team has all the skill and talent to produce a fabled classic and make history.
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