Scots plan Levante bombardment

Motherwell aim to welcome Levante to Scotland with an aerial assault in tonight's Europa League tie.

'Well, who finished third in the SPL last season, recently lost 5-0 to Panathinaikos in the Champions League qualifiers, thereby parachuting into the Europa League play-off round, where they were drawn against Juan Ignacio Martinez's Levante.

The first leg takes place at Fir Park tonight, and although the hosts are known to keep the ball on the ground, boss Stuart McCall has confessed he is considering something different.

“We've just got to concentrate on ourselves, and how we approach it, which might be a bit different to how we did against Panathinaikos,” McCall told the Scotsman.

“Looking back at last season, Levante are very strong centrally. At centre back Sergio Ballesteros is coming up to 37 but has great experience and is a great leader. And I don't think the two boys sat in front of him travel very far forward either so they are very rigid, solid and difficult to break down.

“So we may have to go about it differently. Maybe the old Scottish approach is called for. We like to get the ball and have possession, but this might call for an 'up and at em' approach,” added the former Rangers midfielder.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Levante have had to leave new signing Papa Diop behind in Spain, due to his lack of a special visa required for entry to the U.K. whilst the Paralympics are taking place. But fellow new boy Theofanis Gekas has travelled.

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