Matchday With The Manager: AEK's Quality & City's Prospects

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Matchday With The Manager: AEK's Quality & City's Prospects

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City are braced for a stern test of their European credentials when they face AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

2020-10-29T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: AEK's Quality & City's Prospects

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City are braced for a stern test of their European credentials when they face AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

2020-10-29T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: AEK's Quality & City's Prospects

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City are braced for a stern test of their European credentials when they face AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

2020-10-29T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: AEK's Quality & City's Prospects

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City are braced for a stern test of their European credentials when they face AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

2020-10-29T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: AEK's Quality & City's Prospects

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City are braced for a stern test of their European credentials when they face AEK Athens in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

2020-10-29T07:00:00.000Z

A 5:55pm GMT kick-off in Athens is City's second outing in the competition this term following a 3-0 victory over Ukrainian outfit Zorya Luhansk back in England last week.

While Rodgers has been delighted, in the main, by Leicester's start to 2020/21, including four wins in six Premier League fixtures, the Northern Irishman is wary of AEK's qualities.

Whoever the opposition, the Foxes manager says every team will pose a tough test in a competition which includes sides from a wide spectrum of nations across the continent.

"There’s such a long way to go in the group," he said on Wednesday. "Each team has played only their first game. This is a tough group and I’m pretty sure it will go to the very last games.

"Our concentration is, obviously, purely on [Thursday] night and getting another good result, but we have respect for every team, and we expect that the games will be tough.

"In European football in particular, no game is ever easy. You have to fight for the result."

Rodgers was in charge of Celtic when the Scottish giants were narrowly beaten by Athens on aggregate in UEFA Champions League qualifying in 2018.

That experience, which included a raucous atmosphere at Athens Olympic Stadium, serves as a reminder of AEK's threats, but Rodgers says it's a shame his players can't experience that.

"The last time I was here, it was a fantastic atmosphere, and we were unfortunate to lose out in qualification having played really well in the first leg," he continued.

"Maybe the tie should have been finished in that first game, but we’re just disappointed (fans can't attend). I spoke to the players about the great atmosphere when I was here last time.

"It’s just unfortunate that they’re not going to be able to sample that. However, we’re here to do a job which is to win the game and that will be our concentration."

Following last week's win over Zorya, Leicester are looking to make it successive wins at the start of their European campaign - and Rodgers says analysis has been done on their playing style.

"Luhansk were a team that played a 4-4-2 diamond and were very aggressive in their game," he explained. "I have watched a few of AEK’s games and they play different systems.

"It’s 4-3-3 or 3-5-2, but at this level they’re always difficult games. You arrive here in Athens and you expect a big test and that’s what we’ll prepare for.

"We’ll see what system they play, but whatever they do play, it’ll be a good test for us."

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