Runners-up last season and leading the league so far, CSKA Sofia will start their first Uefa Europa League at home against the tough English side Fulham on September 17 2009. The match will be played at Vassil Levski national stadium and, reportedly, more than 30 000 tickets for the match have already been sold.
Fulham have not had their best start of the season in the Premiership, collecting six points from four league games. Ahead of the CSKA clash, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is poised to make some drastic changes from the team that defeated Everton 2-1 in the Premier League on September 13
First-team regulars Andrew Johnson, Bobby Zamora and Brede Hangeland will be rested. Clint Dempsey and Damien Duff are unlikely to play as they are given extra time to recover from their knocks.
"I fully believe the team I put out will be very competitive. Only one player - Stockdale - has not played international football," Hodgson said, quoted by the BBC. "There is no point signing players like Jonathan Greening, Bjorn Helge Riise, Erik Nevland and Zoltan Gera if you're not going to use them."
"We're not neglecting the European tournament. We're looking forward to it and think it's a great adventure, but it's an adventure for the squad, not just 11," he said.
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CSKA Sofia manager Lyuboslav Penev |
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CSKA Sofia head coach Lyuboslav Penev is determined to build up on the great start to his first full campaign as manager. CSKA certainly will need to extract the most out of their home encounters in a tough group that also includes Basel and Roma, two sides that played Champions League football last season. Collecting points away will be will be an arduous task, so winning the home games is essential if CSKA are looking to progress.
"We will play to win and hope for a good result. I believe in the team and the ambition of CSKA is to qualify further," Penev said. Kick-off at Vassil Levski National stadium is at 7.45pm Bulgarian time and the match will be televised live by public broadcaster BNT and in the U.K on ITV 4 from 17.30.