He played with a broken nose in the win over Vorskla.
Now he faces AIK defender Axel Björnström Shkendija with a new face mask.
Axel Björnström became the match champion in overtime when he passed AIK Vorskla Poltava i Europa Conference League– The qualifiers last week.
He also broke his nose.
– I think it’s broken. I immediately felt how it cracked. But you have a lot of adrenaline with the crowd and everything, so it was just a matter of driving,” said the cotton-headed champion of the match at the time.
Anyway, the nose position has improved somewhat ahead of the next challenge in the qualifiers – against the North Macedonian Shkendija team tomorrow (Thursday).
– Coach Bartosz Grzelak says in the pre-match press conference that he is much straighter than he was after Vorskla.
“It’s not easy during vacation”
– Everything got a little amazing. It’s not easy to straighten your nose during holiday times here in Stockholm, it seems.
Grzelak also confirms that the face mask now applies to the left back.
– It would be the Hannibal Lecter type.
When training begins on Wednesday, Axel Björnström also steps onto the newly laid mat at Friends Arena wearing a mask.
Whether it really is a variation of the iconic mask, worn by Anthony Hopkins from When the Lambs Are Silenced, should be left undisputed.
For the match against Shkendija, the first of two matches in the third round of the European League qualifiers, AIK will have to dispense with Nabil El Bahwi, whose absence from Thursday’s match was confirmed.