Standard Liege v Wisla preview

Wisla Krakow coach Kazimierz Moskal remains optimistic about his side's chances of reaching the last 16 of the Europa League.

Last Updated: 22/02/12 at 17:42   

Standard and Wisla: Drew 1-1 in first leg

Standard and Wisla: Drew 1-1 in first leg

Standard Liege will start the second leg in the driving seat after Gohi Bi Cyriac's penalty gave the Belgian side an away goal to take back to the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.

But Wisla head to Belgium on the back of a brave effort which saw Tsvetan Genkov snatch an 88th-minute equaliser, despite playing for over an hour with 10 men due to Michal Czekaj's 27th-minute sending-off.

Moskal told www.wp.pl: "I have optimism and faith in the team from what I saw in that first match. We played for over an hour weakened, but we dictated the play."

Moskal's team will have to prepare for a hot atmosphere in front of the passionate Liege crowd and expects Liege to push early on but believes his side will have their chances.

"Standard in the first few minutes will move forward and, playing in front of a home crowd, will want to put in a good performance," he said. "Everyone in this situation would like to get the first goal.

"Their defence won't be so great that we won't get chances to score."

It will be a stern test for a Wisla team who have conceded 14 goals in the tournament and barely scraped through the group stages, against a Liege side who had the best defensive record out of any team in the groups.

Neither team heads into the game in the best of form, though, with both having claimed just one win from their last four games.

Liege coach Jose Riga hopes his side can show more maturity than what they did in Krakow.

"A draw while we were playing against a side with 10 men shows a lack of maturity," he told sportmagazine.levif.be. "Too many players were below their level."

Standard Liege go into the game after a difficult week with physio Guy Namurois having died of a heart attack on Sunday at the age of 51.

Liege fans will pay tribute to Namurois with a minute's applause in the 51st minute. The winner of this tie will play either Hannover or Liege's compatriots Club Brugge.

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