AEK Athens vs Rayo Vallecano Predictions

• Rayo hold a 3-0 lead from the first leg
• AEK have won four of their last six home games
• AEK have kept clean sheets in those four wins

Mission impossible for AEK

AEK trail Rayo Vallecano 3-0 in their Conference League quarter-final tie ahead of the second leg in Athens on Thursday.

The Greek outfit conceded two first half goals in Spain and were unable to reduce the deficit, before shipping a third with 15 minutes to play that may have effectively ended the tie.

Progress for AEK looks unlikely but they can at least restore a bit of pride with a win on Thursday.

Rayo beat Samsunspor 3-1 in the first leg in the previous round and were happy to take a 1-0 loss in the second to progress and a similar situation could unfold in Greece.

AEK have won four of their last six home games and have managed clean sheets in all of those wins. They’ve also had a bit more time to prepare for this game as they didn’t play at the weekend, whereas Rayo went down 3-0 at Mallorca.

It will probably be one-way traffic in Greece but Rayo are strong enough defensively to keep their hosts quiet and a 1-0 win for AEK has a chance. Rayo suffered a 1-0 defeat at Barcelona recently and kept things respectable in a 2-1 loss at Real Madrid earlier this month, and they probably had one eye on this game in their heavy defeat at Mallorca over the weekend so a far better showing is expected.

Luka Jovic is suspended for the hosts so Barnabas Varga stands out as a potential scorer. The Hungarian has one goal in two Conference League appearances for AEK and he hit four goals in six games for Ferencvaros in the Europa League before his winter move, and he has two goals in his last five games across all competitions.