Captain Angel Garcia, lively Venezuelan winger Yerson Chacon, and last season's top scorer Enzo Cabrera are all out injured, which is a boost for Aberdeen.

However, neither Garcia nor Cabrera featured against Alkmaar or Palace anyway and Chacon suffered a season-ending knee injury after 19 minutes at Selhurst Park.

AEK have very able replacements, though. Striker Riad Bajic slammed in the winner against Palace and also scored at home to AZ, while winger Djordje Ivanovic is the team's joint top scorer with five goals.

The midfield is packed with technical players who have played at a good level.

Marcus Rohden has 19 Sweden caps and played extensively in Italy after moving from Elfsborg, Thelin's former club.

He is the more creative spark, while Pere Pons, who played over 200 times for Girona, and Gustavo Ledes, an ex Barcelona youth player, will sit and get AEK playing.

Larnaca comfortably dispatched Legia Warsaw - Hibernian's conquerors in the Conference League play-off round - in Europa League qualifying as Cypriot clubs show it is possible to punch above your weight in Europe.

It's time some of Scotland's clubs did the same. Over to...