The time has finally arrived for PAOK, arguably the most popular team in Thessaloniki, to win the Super League title. On Sunday, what almost everyone who follows football in Greece has known for a while now will more than likely become official.
All that is required from the players is a win against AEL and from what they’ve shown all season long they have all the necessary tools to do it: the hunger, the ability, the patience and the skills required.
These were all apparent last week against Lamia at Toumba, as despite the chances created by their opposition and the always present threat towards goalkeeper Paschalakis’ goal, the PAOK players kept the pressure on and didn’t lose faith at any point during the game, eventually finding the key to unlock the defence late in both halves.
Razvan Lucescu and his men are treating Sunday’s match just as any other game however and also have the added motivation of wanting to maintain their unbeaten run all the way to the end of the season.
Meanwhile, the PAOK fans have their own preparations to attend to, as they are planning to follow the team on their way back to Thessaloniki and stop at the Tempi shrine in order to dedicate the championship title to the six supporters of the club that lost their lives there, with the hopes that the title will have already been won.
And even though this is one of the rare occasions that Olympiacos will end a season without having won a single trophy, no one at the club seems particularly bothered by that fact as the team is showing signs of evolving into a goal-machine, as proven by the most recent thrashing of Panetolikos by 0-5.
The players are enjoying the style of football that Pedro Martins applies, with the Portuguese manager hoping that the losses during the summer transfer period will be minimised so that changes to the squad don’t become necessary.
Yet, with key players such as Elabdellaoui and Fortounis entering the final year of their contracts, and the situation with goalkeeper Jose Sa still being up in the air, it remains to be seen how simple that will be.
For now though, they have one of their final home performances of the season against Xanthi to focus on at the port of Piraeus and pleasing their fans is their main objective.
AEK continue to show signs reminiscent of the team that won last season’s championship, ever since Manolo Jimenez took charge.
The champions were left trailing at the half against Xanthi due to a Castro goal, yet came back stronger in the second and shot thrice to claim an impressive win.
Their character will be tried once again this weekend, this time at Lamia.
Aris missed their great chance to seal their ticket to the Europa League qualifiers after they fell victim to a 2-0 defeat against Panathinaikos at the Olympic Stadium, despite having the upper hand for the greatest part of the game.
Two late goals by Donis and Insua allowed the “greens” to keep their hopes for fifth place alive, as Aris will now need to face Atromitos who has proven to be a dangerous opponent for anyone this season.
In the battle to avoid relegation, OFI claimed an important win against Giannena thanks to a single goal by Vaz, while Panionios secured their position in next season’s Super League after defeating AEL with the same score.
DAY 28 FIXTURES
Sunday 14 April
AEL – PAOK
Panathinaikos – OFI
Giannena – Asteras Tripolis
Olympiacos – Xanthi
Levadiakos – Panionios
Lamia – AEK
Aris – Atromitos
Apollon Smyrnis – Panetolikos