Uefa Europa League
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UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2018/19 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS GSP - Nicosia Thursday 25 October 2018 18.55CET (19.55 local time) AEK Larnaca FC Group A - Matchday 3 PFC Ludogorets 1945 Last updated 15/12/2018 03:43CET Previous meetings 2 Match background 3 Team facts 4 Squad list 6 Fixtures and results 8 Match-by-match lineups 11 Match officials 14 Legend 15 1 AEK Larnaca FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Thursday 25 October 2018 - 18.55CET (19.55 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia Previous meetings Head to Head No UEFA competition matches have been played between these two teams AEK Larnaca FC - Record versus clubs from opponents' country AEK Larnaca FC have not played against a club from their opponents' country PFC Ludogorets 1945 - Record versus clubs from opponents' country PFC Ludogorets 1945 have not played against a club from their opponents' country 2 AEK Larnaca FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Thursday 25 October 2018 - 18.55CET (19.55 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia Match background AEK and Ludogorets meet in Nicosia still searching for their first point in UEFA Europa League Group A. Defeats in each of their opening two matches have left them both with a considerable amount of ground to make up on section rivals Bayer Leverkusen and FC Zürich. Previous meetings • This is the first time in UEFA competition that AEK have faced Bulgarian opposition and Ludogorets have encountered a team from Cyprus. Form guide AEK • AEK qualified for this season's UEFA Europa League by winning the Cypriot Cup for the second time – and first in 14 years – after coming from behind to defeat Apollon 2-1 in the final. They are in Europe for the fourth successive season and in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the second time, having lost successive play-offs to Czech opposition in the last two campaigns. • AEK won one, drew one and lost one of their three home games in the 2011/12 group stage, the 0-5 defeat to Schalke being the club's heaviest in European competition. They finished bottom of a section also comprising Steaua Bucureşti and Maccabi Haifa, registering five points. • The Larnaca-based club's matchday one defeat against Zürich (0-1) ended a seven-match unbeaten European run at home (W6 D1) during which they did not concede a goal, scoring 20 times themselves including 12 in this term's qualifying phase – 4-0 v Dundalk (aggregate 4-0), 5-0 v Sturm Graz (7-0) and 3-0 v Trenčín (4-1). Ludogorets • Ludogorets' seventh consecutive Bulgarian league title earned them a place in this season's UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. Having seen off Crusaders 9-0 over two games, they then lost to Hungarian champions Vidi to move into the UEFA Europa League, where they eliminated Zrinjski and Torpedo Kutaisi to reach the group stage of the competition for the second year in a row – and third time in all. • The Razgrad club have been successful in each of their previous two UEFA Europa League group stage participations, reaching the round of 16 in 2013/14 and round of 32 in 2017/18. They also competed in the 2016/17 round of 32, having finished third in their UEFA Champions League group. • Ludogorets boast an impressive record on their travels in the UEFA Europa League, having lost just three of their 14 matches, qualifying included (W6 D5), and never conceded more than once in any of those games. The matchday two defeat at Zürich (0-1) was their first away from home in seven group stage matches (W4 D2). Links and trivia • AEK's added-time consolation strike in their 4-2 defeat at Leverkusen on matchday two was scored by substitute Dimitris Raspas, who thus became, at 17 years and 186 days, the fifth youngest goalscorer in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final. The record still belongs to Romelu Lukaku, aged 16 years and 218 days when he scored for Anderlecht against Ajax in the inaugural 2009/10 season. • Ivan Tričkovski's tally of six goals for AEK in this season's UEFA Europa League qualifying phase was bettered by only two players – Aedeleke Akinyemi of Ventspils and Eirik Hestad of Molde, who both scored seven. • Ludogorets striker Claudiu Keşerü, who opened the scoring in the 2-3 home defeat against Leverkusen on matchday one, holds the record for the fastest hat-trick scored in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final, finding the net three times in ten minutes for FCSB against Aalborg in a 6-0 win on 18 September 2014. The coaches • A former Spanish international full-back who spent the vast majority of his career in Bilbao at Athletic Club, Andoni Iraola did not finish playing until November 2016, after 18 months of MLS football with New York City, and had no major coaching experience when he was announced as AEK's new manager in June 2018 in succession to compatriot Imanol Idiakez. He was a stalwart of the Athletic side that finished runners-up to Atlético Madrid in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League, and appeared in three Copa del Rey finals. • Antoni Zdravkov is the new head coach of Ludogorets having stepped up from the assistant post he filled under previous boss Paulo Autuori, who left the club earlier this month. A former defender who began his playing career in the mid-1980s with Levski Sofia and played three times for Bulgaria, Zdravkov had a short spell as Levski coach before taking charge of Bulgaria's Under-21 side from October 2014 until June 2018, when he left to join Autuori at Ludogorets. 3 AEK Larnaca FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Thursday 25 October 2018 - 18.55CET (19.55 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia Team facts AEK Larnaca FC Formed: 1994 Nickname: The Green Yellows, The Guardians UEFA club competition honours • None Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) Cypriot Cup: 2 (2018) Ten-year record (UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup unless indicated otherwise) 2017/18: play-offs 2016/17: play-offs 2015/16: third qualifying round 2014/15: did not take part in UEFA competition 2013/14: did not take part in UEFA competition 2012/13: did not take part in UEFA competition 2011/12: group stage 2010/11: did not take part in UEFA competition 2009/10: did not take part in UEFA competition 2008/09: did not take part in UEFA competition Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 5-0 three times, most recently v Sturm Graz 16/08/18, UEFA Europa League third qualifying round second leg • Biggest away win 0-8: Floriana v AEK 14/07/11, UEFA Europa League second qualifying round first leg • Heaviest home defeat 0-5: AEK v Schalke 20/10/11, UEFA Europa League group stage • Heaviest away defeat 4-0: Maccabi Petach-Tikva v AEK 26/08/04, UEFA Cup second qualifying round second leg UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup • Biggest home win 5-0 twice, most recently v Sturm Graz (see above) • Biggest away win 0-8: Floriana v AEK (see above) • Heaviest home defeat 0-5: AEK v Schalke (see above) • Heaviest away defeat 4-0: Maccabi Petach-Tikva v AEK (see above) FC Ludogorets Razgrad Formed: 1945 Nickname: The Eagles from Razgrad UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • None Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 7 (2018) Bulgarian Cup: 2 (2014) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup unless indicated otherwise) 2017/18: round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League third qualifying round) 4 AEK Larnaca FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Thursday 25 October 2018 - 18.55CET (19.55 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia 2016/17: round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) 2015/16: UEFA Champions League second qualifying round 2014/15: UEFA Champions League group stage 2013/14: round of 16 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League play-offs) 2012/13: UEFA Champions League second qualifying round 2011/12: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2010/11: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2009/10: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2008/09: did not take part in UEFA club competition Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 7-0: Ludogorets v Crusaders 11/07/18, UEFA Champions League first qualifying round first leg Biggest away win 0-3: Mladost Podgorica v Ludogorets 19/07/16, UEFA Champions League second qualifying round second leg • Heaviest home defeat 0-3 twice, most recently v AC Milan 15/02/18, UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg • Heaviest away defeat 6-0: Arsenal v Ludogorets 19/10/16, UEFA Champions League group stage UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League • Biggest home win 4-0: Ludogorets v Torpedo Kutaisi 30/08/18, play-off second leg • Biggest away win 0-2 twice, most recently v Braga 19/10/17, group stage • Heaviest home defeat 0-3 twice, most recently v AC Milan (see above) • Heaviest away defeat 1-0 three times, most recently v Zürich 04/10/18, group stage 5 AEK Larnaca FC - PFC Ludogorets 1945 Thursday 25 October 2018 - 18.55CET (19.55 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia Squad list AEK Larnaca FC Current season All-time QUAL UEL League UEL UEFA No. Player Nat. DoB Age D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers 1 Andreas Christodoulou CYP 26/03/1997 21 - - - - - - - - - - - 25 Toño Ramírez ESP 23/11/1986 31 - 6 - 2 - 4 - 3 - 11 - 30 Ioakeim Toumpas CYP 19/02/1999 19 - - - - - - - - - - - Defenders 2 Igor Silva BRA 21/08/1996 22 - 6 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 8 - 3 Marios Antoniades CYP 14/05/1990 28 - - - - - - - 6 - 26 - 4 Joan Truyols ESP 11/11/1989 28 - 6 1 1 - 3 - 1 - 15 2 5 Daniel Mojsov MKD 25/12/1987 30 - 4 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 26 - 6 David Catala ESP 03/05/1980 38 - - - - - 4 - - - 16 - 18 Mikel Gonzalez ESP 24/09/1985 33 - 6 - 2 - 3 1 2 - 8 - 19 Thomas Ioannou CYP 19/07/1995 23 - 3 - 1 - 4 -