Honka open their Europa League campaign this week in the second qualifying round, where they meet Polish club Lech Poznań - runners up in last year's Ekstraklasa (Polish top division). The first leg in Finland, will be played on Thursday 18th July. The return leg in Poland will be played on Thursday 25th July.
Friend of the site Ryan Hubbard, founder of the superb EKSTRAKLASAreview website, has written a fine preview of Honka's opponents for us to read before (during and after!) the tie. He has also hosted a short preview of Honka that I wrote for his site, have a look here.
Welcome to Manchester Poznań
After
a sluggish start to to 2012/13 season, perennial challengers picked themselves
up quickly to battle their greatest enemies Legia Warszawa for the Polish
Ekstraklasa title. With around a month of the season remaining the Kolejorz had
already guaranteed at least a European spot, however a 1-0 Matchday 28 defeat
in Warsaw effectively handed the title to their rivals.
With
their runners-up spot confirmed with a few games to spare, Lech enter European
competition for the fifth time in the last six years - only their fifth-placed
finish in 2010/11 preventing them from taking part the following season. Whilst
their domestic season wasn't the greatest in 2010/11, they will be aiming to
replicate their Europa League campaign from that year. On their way to a
last-32 defeat to eventual finalists Braga, they managed fantastic wins against
both Red Bull Salzburg and Manchester City, whilst twice holding Juventus to a
draw.
STRENGTHS
By
far the strongest part of the current Lech Poznań team is their vast midfield.
With coach Mariusz Rumak expected to field five men across the middle, they can
be difficult to break down whilst able to create a lot of chances both for
themselves and the strikers.
With
Hungarian Gergo Lovrencsics and Finnish Kasper Hämäläinen netting ten between
them last term, Lech have strengthened their attacking prowess with the
addition of Zagłębie Lubin winger Szymon Pawłowski - a more than adequate
replacement for Aleksander Tonev, who departed for Aston Villa.
Whilst
defensive midfield pair Rafał Murawski and Łukasz Trałka may not have had their
strongest season, they are still a very formidable pair - both finding their
way into Polish national squads over the last eighteen months. Rumak also
has the option to include Polish youth prodigy Karol Linetty in his middle five
- the eighteen year-old led the Polish U17 side to third-place in last year's
European Championships.
Finland international Kasper Hämäläinen
WEAKNESSES
The
problem for Lech is that their strikers have been known to struggle when it
comes to converting chances. Whilst Łukasz Teodorczyk scored a hatful in autumn
at Polonia Warszawa, his winter move didn't quite yield the same results. In
the capital, Teodorczyk played the role of a support striker excellently -
grabbing almost as many assists as he did goals. However since his move to
Poznań, he has been played in a lone striker role - and the difference showed.
But after scoring his first Lech goal late in the season, we have seen more
glimpses of the Teodorczyk which earned a call-up to the Polish National team.
A hat-trick in a friendly against Danish side FC Nordsjaelland just last week
confirming that "Teo" hasn't lost his abilities.
Whilst
Teodorczyk's first goal in the blue shirt brought a much needed confidence
boost, his fellow striker Bartosz Ślusarski needs more than confidence. Despite
netting __ league goals last term, he was widely thought of as one of the
weakest strikers in the league. With the amount of chances both self-created
and handed to him, Ślusarski could have scored many more, and the signing of
Teodorczyk only went to show that Ślusarski's goal record alone wasn't enough
for Mariusz Rumak.
INJURIES
Whilst
Lech have been struggling to field a full side during their pre-season
friendlies, they can now count on the return of six players for the tie with
Honka. Along with the aforementioned Ślusarski and Linetty, Kebba Ceesay,
Tomasz Kędziora, Patryk Wolski and Szymon Pawłowski should all be available for
the first leg.
However
there are still a few doubts in the Kolejorz camp; Barry Douglas, Rafał
Murawski and Luis Henriquez all look set to miss at least one of the two
meetings.
POSSIBLE
LINE-UP
Jasmin Burić
Hubert
Wołąkiewicz, Marcin Kamiński, Manuel Arboleda, Kebba Ceesay
Łukasz Trałka,
Mateusz Możdżeń
Gergo Lovrencsics, Kasper Hämäläinen, Szymon Pawłowski
Łukasz Teodorczyk
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