On the last match day of the group stage, in Thessaloniki, PAOK faced AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night, aiming to clinch top spot in their section and thus avoid the rest of the teams who will finish first in their groups.
An injury-time header by 17-year-old debutant Stelios Pozoglou was enough to extend PAOK’s unbeaten run in Europe to 15 games, though not to give it the top spot in its Europa League group, as the 2-2 home draw with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday meant that the Dutch have won the group and PAOK has qualified to the last 32 of the competition as a runner-up.
That will likely entail a more difficult opponent in Monday’s draw at Nyon, given that PAOK may face one of the teams to have entered the tournament after finishing third in their Champions League group.
Apart from the record of an undefeated streak away from home in the history of UEFA Europa League (the last loss was against Villarreal, 1-0, in October 2010), the Double-Headed Eagle from Thessaloniki finds itself amongst 11 undefeated teams out of 48 in the group stage of the League.