Groningen manager Erwin van de Looi has warned his players not to expect traditional Scottish kick and rush football from Aberdeen at Pittodrie tonight.
The Dutch side have arrived in the Granite City for the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying round tie and van de Looi is respectful about the threat Derek McInnes’ side possess.
He said: “When we watched Aberdeen we were pretty surprised. English and Scottish football has a reputation in Holland as being played in a kick and rush style, but that was not what we saw from Aberdeen at all.
“They play a fast style but they like to get the ball on the ground and have good technical players.
“It’s a tough game for us so early in the season but we will be ready for it and we are up for it.
“We watched the two Riga games and some video of Aberdeen’s games at the end of last season. We can see they are a good team, well organised and they have a clear idea of how they want to play.
“It’s hard to say how the match will go as it was clear Riga was not the best of opposition. I believe the two sides will be pretty even.”
Van de Looi has taken great encouragement from the fact the Groningen supporters have travelled in good numbers for tonight’s game.
The Dons have already sold 14,000 tickets for the tie and the Dutch manager is looking forward to savouring a traditional big game European atmosphere at Pittodrie.
But enjoying the occasion is not enough. Van de Looi is aiming to make an impression against the Dons.
He said: “We’re glad to be here as this match is the result of a year of hard work for us last season. This game has a real Europa League feeling for us as we are going to be playing against strong opposition in a full stadium. It’s the right atmosphere we want for a European game.
“We’re very proud we will have more than 600 Groningen supporters here with us. It gives us more confidence and shows the Europa League is a competition which excites people and gets them talking about European football.
“We will have to be at our best to get a result but that’s all right as we have come here to get a result. We want to make this the first step on our European run.”
New signing, defender Martijn van der Laan, a summer recruit from Cambuur, misses out through injury but another new signing, Jarchinio Antonio, has travelled with the squad.
The attacker, who joined the club from Go Ahead Eagles, has recovered from a groin strain to make the squad.