AaB aiming to relive European highs

Pride in last season's achievements still dominate the thoughts of most Aalborg BK supporters, but the players themselves have had to quickly shift their focus from their 2008/09 exploits to the start of their UEFA Europa League qualifying campaign tonight.

Landmark campaign
AaB became the first Danish team to finish third in the UEFA Champions League group stage last term, securing themselves a place in the UEFA Cup, which they then exited in the Round of 16. Those feats nonetheless came at the expense of the club's Superliga form and they ended a disappointing seventh, but the hunger to experience similar European highs will feed motivation levels when FK Slavija Sarajevo come calling for the first leg of their second qualifying round tie.

AaB prepared
Scene of those memorable nights last season, the Aalborg Stadium is the venue for Thursday's opener, and AaB chief scout Poul Erik Andreasen is confident the hosts will prove too strong for their Bosnia-Herzegovnian rivals. "They are a good team but I do not think they will have the physical strength or the staying power to cope with a well-trained Scandinavian team like ours," he said after watching Slavija in action.

Personnel changes
The AaB team that takes the field will be noticeably different to last season's vintage, however. Defender Steve Olfers, midfielders Kasper Risgård, Thomas Enevoldsen, Siyabonga Nomvethe and Cacá, plus forward Luton Shelton have all left, along with goalkeeper Kenneth Stenild. Moving in the other direction, defenders Thomas Gaardsøe and Kenneth Emil Petersen have bolstered the ranks, while midfielder Rasmus Würtz has returned from FC København. In addition, Swedish midfielder Louay Chanko has joined from Hammarby, Norwegian forward Daniel Holm has signed from Vålerenga IF and goalkeeper Abbas Hassan has been secured on loan from IF Elfsborg.

Friendly form
Despite the major overhaul, the new-look lineup has already shown promise in recent warm-up performances, including a 2-0 home victory over fellow UEFA Europa League hopefuls Randers FC. "Still, we will probably need to be a bit sharper when the important matches begin," commented Würtz after that match.