I think we need to be on our toes for our clash with Ludogorets.
They are a fantastic side, full of enthusiasm and support of an entire nation (except all their rivals and their fans) behind them.
They like to play in a formation which were a lot more common in early 90s, 3-6-1. A lop-sided one if you may say so.
They play with 3 CBs and 2 DM in front of them to protect them. Their fullbacks can run all day. As result of that, their number 10 who is one of the greatest talents Eastern Europe has ever produced has close to zero defensive duties and can spread through final balls all day. Wanderson is a far cry from Anderson we all know and love as well, actually a lot thinner and can cause problems with pace. ....so in short, they play 3-2-2-1-2. A very modern formation that caused every team problems last season in CL and EL until they faced better teams like Basel and Valencia (if not mistaken) and were eliminated.
In short to beat them, we need to play better than team and have more quality. We need to play 11 players that can cope with their running and shooting, and they themselves can execute well tactically. I am very confident of our chances, especially if we play 4-4-2 diamond against them with Balotelli marking Moti when they have corners.
Their home shirt is also green, which can be a problem when we play in Sofia, because the pitch there is green as well, and our players may get confused. feck , I hate when a team wears green kits in a football match. They are also a pretty rich team and apparently the Bulgarian Man City, and we've always have problems playing away at Man City, so that should be taken into consideration.
In all hope, I think we possess enough individual quality, tactical nous, and stamina level to cause them problems. They'll be no pushovers though, as they are a formidable opponents with an eagle in their stadium, they'll be watching our movement very slowly. Maybe a game for Borini this one as movement will be very key !