AEK coach on LASK player Ljubicic: "He wanted a transfer"

As the UEFA Champions League group stage begins, LASK will face AEK Athens away on Tuesday (kick-off 6:45 PM CET in the LIVE ticker >>>).

It will be a special match for Robert Ljubicic: The Austrian-Croatian is currently on loan from the Greek club to Linz. LASK has a buy option.

Last season, he wasn't always a starter. "I will approach the game like any other and keep a cool head. But there is some extra motivation," he recently clarified to "90minuten".

Praise for Ljubicic

No negative words are heard in the Greek capital about the 27-year-old. "Ljubo was an important part of the team last year. There was a phase in the season where he scored regularly and helped us enormously - he was a great support," said coach Marko Nikolic.

However, he mostly came on as a substitute. "He wanted to leave to get more playing time. Now fate has it that he plays against his own club," said the AEK coach.

He wishes Ljubicic all the best, but not for the game against his own team.

No adjustments against LASK

He does not want to make any adjustments against successful coach Didi Kühbauer.

"I have already said that we should play 95% of the games according to our own ideas and at our own pace. If you only adapt to the opponent – what are you then?" Nikolic said.

He describes LASK as a "serious opponent". "I know the project, so this will be a very demanding match. It will be a game with high intensity and direct, fast football. The opponent is well organized in static game phases, so we need to be in the right place at the right time to achieve a good result," he stated.