Rayo Vallecano will travel to Greece for Thursday's Conference League quarter-final second leg against AEK Athens.
The Spanish side boasts a healthy advantage after running out 3-0 winners in the first leg at Vallecas.
Match preview
AEK performed strongly in the league phase, finishing in third position after winning four, drawing one and losing one of their six games.
The Greek giants went on to beat Celje by a 4-2 aggregate scoreline in the last 16, but their hopes of winning their first European trophy are now hanging by a thread following a heavy 3-0 loss in Spain last week.
With no domestic game at the weekend, AEK have had a week to come up with a comeback plan as they bid to reach the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time since the 1976-77 UEFA Cup.
Thursday's hosts have won five of their seven Conference home matches this season (including qualifying), although only one has come by a margin of three goals or more.
That said, Marko Nikolic's side have won by at least three goals in four of their previous six competitive home games, including a 3-0 success against Kifisia in their most recent outing at the Allwyn Arena.
AEK will be hoping that home advantage can inspire them to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit in a European tie for the first time since the 1976-77 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, when they fought back from three goals down to beat Queens Park Rangers on penalties.
© Imago / ZUMA Press Wire
Rayo, meanwhile, advanced straight to the last-16 after finishing in fifth place and level on 13 points with AEK in the league phase.
Los Franjirrojos backed up their strong league phase performance with a 3-2 success over Turkish side Samsunspor in the last 16.
Rayo enjoyed more success in last week's quarter-final first leg against AEK, which saw them claim a commanding 3-0 victory thanks to efforts from Ilias Akhomach, Unai Lopez and Isi Palazon.
They are now on the verge of surpassing their efforts from their run to the 2000-01 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, with Los Franjirrojos just one game away from making their first last-four appearance in European competition.
Unfortunately for Inigo Perez's charges, they will head to Greece on the back of a 3-0 away defeat against Mallorca, which leaves them in 13th spot and just three points clear of La Liga's bottom three.
The result also represented their fifth defeat in their past eight competitive away matches (W1, D2), although they can take confidence from the fact they have lost just one of their five away games in the Conference League this season (W3, D1).
AEK Athens Conference League form:
W W W W L L
AEK Athens form (all competitions):
W D L W W L
Rayo Vallecano Conference League form:
L W W W L W
Rayo Vallecano form (all competitions):
D L L W W L
Team News
© Imago / One Inch Productions
Marko Grujic, Joao Mario, Robert Ljubicic and Hakim Sahabo are ineligible after being left out of AEK’s Conference League squad.
The club’s captain, Petros Mantalos, is set to miss the second leg after being forced at half time in Spain with a muscle injury.
Luka Jovic picked up his third booking of the competition in the first leg, ruling him out of the return fixture due to suspension.
As for Rayo, Randy Nteka, Abdul Mumin, Joszhua Vertrouwd and Fran Perez are all ineligible to feature in the Conference League knockout rounds.
The visitors are hopeful that first-choice goalkeeper Augusto Batalla will be able to shake off the knock he sustained in the first leg.
After making changes at the weekend, Perez could decide to select the same lineup that started last week’s dominant first-leg performance.
AEK Athens possible starting lineup:
Strakosha; Rota, Moukoudi, Relvas; Pilios; Koita, Pineda, Marin, Pereyra; Gacinovic; Varga
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Felipe, Chavarria; Lopez, Ciss; Akhomach, Palazon, Garcia; De Frutos
We say: AEK Athens 2-2 Rayo Vallecano (Rayo to win 5-2 on aggregate)
AEK will have to take risks in a bid to overturn the three-goal deficit, but that will leave space for Rayo to exploit, and with that in mind, we think the second leg could produce an exciting draw that ultimately sees the Spanish side through the last four.
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