Madrid, April 8 – Spanish side Rayo Vallecano has an opportunity to make history on Thursday when it hosts AEK Athens in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League quarterfinal. The match gives Rayo the chance to reach a European semifinal for the first time, after playing in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup in the 2000-2001 season, when they lost to Deportivo Alaves.
The team from the working-class Madrid neighborhood of Vallecas goes into the game after taking a significant step towards La Liga survival with a 1-0 home win over Elche on Friday, and coach Inigo Perez will have virtually his entire squad available, with the exception of wingers Fran Perez and Ilias Akhomach, who have minor physical issues.
AEK Athens will provide a tough test, with the Greek side immersed in the title race after an impressive away win over Olympiakos at the weekend. The visiting team has been difficult to beat this season, with just five defeats in 47 games in all competitions.
Highly-rated coach Inigo Perez has tended to rotate his team between La Liga matches and the Conference League, and is likely to continue doing so on Thursday, with players such as Gerard Gumbau, Alfonso Espino, Ivan Balliu, Pedro Diaz, and perhaps Nobel Mendy coming into the starting lineup.
Fellow Spanish side Celta Vigo are in Europa League action on Thursday with a quarterfinal first leg away to German side FC Freiburg, which currently sits eighth in the Bundesliga.
Celta's win in Valencia last weekend lifted the club to sixth in La Liga, just one point behind Betis, which is in Europa League action on Wednesday, and the club from northwestern Spain has an excellent chance of finishing fifth, which could bring a place in next season's Champions League.
Coach Claudio Giraldez recently extended his contract with Celta and will have talismanic striker Iago Aspas available for the game, along with Matias Vecino, but he will be without central defender Carl Starfelt and midfielder Hugo Alvarez, who suffered a twisted ankle in Valencia.