Thursday September 17, 18:00
Live on BT Sport Extra
"Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
That's what I was thinking last night as Hulk smashed in an early opener for Zenit at Valencia, and our boys never really recovered, losing 3-2. I can report that I didn't quite go green and tear apart my clothes, but I wasn't far off.
We're moving to colder climes tonight, and a Europa League clash between Midtjylland and Legia Warsaw.
Danish champions Midtjylland did superbly to edge out Southampton in the playoff round, and I must admit I underestimated just how quickly coach Jess Thorup could fill the void left by his championship-winning predecessor Glen Riddersholm. Midtjylland are flying, having zoomed to the top of the Superliga courtesy of an unbeaten start to the season.
Armed with reams of statistical data (Midtjylland use the so-called Moneyball approach), Thorup has organised his defence superbly. His side has kept clean sheets in each of their last four home games, and they haven't conceded at the MCH Arena since a 2-1 defeat to APOEL in the Champions League in July.
Legia Warsaw haven't been particularly solid domestically, but their defensive record in the Europa League has been very strong in the past couple of years. As Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United fans will know, Legia coach Henning Berg was a fine defender in his day, and he has seen his players keep clean sheets in 12 of their last 17 games in European football's secondary competition. All but one of those shut-outs have been during Berg's time at the club.
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