Legia boss Hasi: 'All of Ireland is behind Dundalk and I can feel that in every corner.'

Legia Warsaw are hoping to make it into the Champions League group stages for only the second time in the club's history. It was 21 years ago when the 1970 losing semi-finalists appeared at that stage and they're desperately aiming to repeat that achievement.

Ex-Albanian international centre-half Besnik Hasi is the current manager of Legia Warsaw, having been appointed in June 2016. He was present this evening at the Aviva Stadium along with his captain and Polish international centre half Michal Pazdan to speak with the press about tomorrow's eagerly anticipated clash with Dundalk.

The first comment Hasi made was that when the draw was made, the club were happy to draw Dundalk, as the lowest ranked unseeded team. Likewise however, he believes that Dundalk were probaby happy to draw Legia for much the same reasons. However, he was quick to distance himself from such thoughts or beliefs.

“All of Ireland is behind them and I can feel that in every corner. It's dangerous to think we are better than them. We have to show that on the pitch. Two games are going to decide if we'll see a Polish team in the Champions League.”

“We are prepared and in the last two games we showed we are only thinking about this game. We'll show that tomorrow.”

His captain Pazdan repeated such a tone by trying to calm fears that Legia's recent domestic results have not been ideal preparation towards tomorrow evening's game. Of course, both Dundalk and Legia share this similarity, with both teams having lost their two domestic games. In fact, Legia have failed to score in both league matches they've played since eliminating Slovakian opposition FK Trencin in the last round.

“We don't want to dwell on the last two (league) games. We played well and we failed to score. We're just concentrating on the next two games against Dundalk.”

“There's no pressure. Of course everybody wants to win, the fans and the players. We're confident that we can succeed.”

Both manager and captain mentioned the expectation of there being a sizeable Polish supporting contingent in the stadium tomorrow evening. It's believed that between 700-800 tickets have been sold by Legia Warsaw, but there's also the strong possibility that some of the Polish expats living in Ireland may attend the game tomorrow. Hasi certainly wants to see that happen.

“I hope that a lot of Polish people are going to come. I hear the national coach of Ireland is calling the Irish fans. I heard there's a big colony of Polish people. Whether you're a Legia fan or not. If you are Polish, you come to support the Polish team. So I hope we're going to have a lot of Polish people.”

Pazdan provided insight into the the demographic in which he falls in Poland by expressing and explaining briefly about the phenomenon that Polish people experienced upon their entry into the EU twelve years ago.

“When I was younger, all my friends and acquaintances all wanted to come to Ireland and work. I hope that they're all here and I hope they'll attend tomorrow's game.”

Finally, when asked whether his Brazilian midfielder Guilherme would be fit and ready to play tomorrow, Besnik Hasi had a very brief and blunt answer, showing just how confident he is with his squad's preparation. “Everybody's ready”. Guilherme came off injured in the 2nd leg of the second qualifying round against Bosnian side Zrinjski and hasn't featured since. He's also considered a key midfielder in this Legia team.

Here's a look at just what kind of talent Legia Warsaw possess, and also an assessment of what kind of team Dundalk can expect to face. Legia are likely to adopt a similar formation to Dundalk – that's a 4-5-1 formation that changes to 4-3-3 when attacking. It's certainly a formidable looking group of players, but one which Dundalk should have no fear about facing, having dispatched BATE Borisov.

Goalkeeper

Arkadiusz Malarz - 36 year old Polish goalkeeper. Has played in Greece and Cyprus. In his second season with Legia and has played 14 European games. Likely to start.

Radoslaw Cierzniak – 33 year old Polish international goalkeeper (1 cap). Journeyman goalkeeper who spent most his playing career with Dundee United. Joined Legia in March 2016 and has only played a cup game and featured as a sub during this European campaign. Likely to be involved from the bench.

Defenders

Michal Pazdan - 28 year old Polish international centre half (22 international caps). Acting captain. Started all five games at the Euros for Poland. Second season with Legia. 13 European games. Likely to start.

Igor Lewczuk – 31 year old Polish international defender (2 caps). In his third season with Legia. Has 16 European games. Likely to start.

Lukasz Broz – 30 year old Polish international defender (3 caps). Been with Legia since 2013. 27 European games. Likely to start.

Adam Hloušek – 27 year old Czech international left full back (7 caps). Been with Legia since January 2016. Ex-Nurnberg and Stuttgart player. 13 European games and 1 goal. Likely to start.

Jakub Rzezniczak – 29 year old Polish international defender (9 caps). Club captain. Been with the club since 2004. 56 European games and 2 goals. Likely to be on the bench.

Tomasz Brzyski – 34 year old Polish international full back (7 caps, 1 goal). Has been with Legia Warsaw since 2013 and has played 28 European games and scored 2 goals. Likely to be on the bench.

Bartosz Bereszyski – 24 year old Polish international defender (2 caps). Been with Legia since 2013. 22 European games. Likely to be on the bench.

Midfield players

Tomasz Jodlowiec – 30 year old Polish international midfielder (49 caps, 1 goal). Has been with Legia since 2013. Has played 53 games in Europe and scored 3 goals. Likely to start.

Thibault Moulin – 26 year old French under 21 international midfielder. Has played in France and Belgium. Joined Legia in July and has played all 4 of his European games with Legia this summer. Likely to start.

Michal Kopczynski – 24 year old Polish midfielder. Has been with Legia Warsaw since 2012 but has only played a limited number of games with the club. He has played in 3 European games this year. Likely to start.

Kasper Hämäläinen – 30 year old Finnish international midfielder (52 caps, 9 goals). Signed for Legia in February 2016 from Lech Poznan. Has previously played in Sweden and Finland. 25 European games and 2 goals. Likely to be on the bench.

Guilherme – 25 year old Brazilian midfielder. Has been with Legia since 2015, having previously come through the youth setup at Portuguese side Braga. Key midfield player last season in the league for Legia with 35 league appearances and 5 goals. Has 21 European games and 2 goals. A doubt for Legia.

Attacking players

Steeven Langil – 28 year old Martinque international attacking midfielder (3 caps, 2 goals). Joined Legia midway through July. Has played in the UCL group stages 2010/11 with Auxerre. 9 European games and 2 goals in total. Likely to start.

Michal Kucharczyk – 25 year old Polish international winger (9 caps, 1 goal). Has been with Legia since 2009. This will be his 50^th European game with Legia, and he has 10 European goals to his name. Likely to start.

Nemanja Nikolic – 28 year old Hungarian international (20 caps, 3 international goals). Made two substitute appearances at the Euros. Second season at Legia. Scored 28 league goals last season. Previous European experience with Videoton. 31 games in Europe and 10 goals. 4 this campaign. Likely to start.

Mihail Alexandrov – 27 year old Bulgarian international winger (15 caps, 2 goals). Has played with Ludogrets in the UCL group stages 2014/15. 37 European games and 1 goal. Likely to be on the bench.

Aleksandar Prijovic – 26 year old Swiss under 21 international forward. Previous European experience with Sion, Tromso and Djurgardens. 20 games in total and 5 goals. Likely to be on the bench.