Heaviest European home defeat for PAOK in club history
PAOK’s disastrous 1:4 defeat in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League playoffs to Benfica marked the club’s heaviest home defeat on the European stage.
Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage from AGONASport.com!
PAOK conceded four goals at home for just the second time in a European club competition fixture on a night that all went horribly wrong for the Dikefalos tou Vorra.
The last time PAOK conceded 4 goals at Toumba was in an memorable 4-4 draw against Atletico Madrid, where PAOK came back from a 1:3 scoreline to grab a 4:3 lead before conceding an equaliser in the second round of the 1997 UEFA Cup.
PAOK have suffered some other heavy defeats at home in Europe including a 0-3 loss to Schalke in the first leg of the 2017 UEFA Europa League round of 32. This loss along with PAOK’s loss on Wednesday to Benfica mark the club’s heaviest defeat at home on the European stage.
The curse of the 1:1 scoreline came back to haunt PAOK in a UEFA Champions League qualifier for the fourth time, denying them the right to advance to their first ever Champions League group stages. The curse started in 2010 against Ajax in the third qualifying round and continued in 2013 against Schalke in the playoff round. In 2016, Ajax once against spoiled PAOK’s Champions League dream by eliminating the Greek side again in the third qualifying round despite PAOK grabbing a 1:1 first leg draw in Amsterdam. It happened yet again on Wednesday night, with PAOK going to Lisbon with a positive 1-1 result, however a mental collapse in the second leg again ended their Champions League dream.
