PAOK achieve many milestones in record-breaking season
PAOK achieved many milestones this season and AGONAsport’s Athan Stylos takes a closer look at the club’s incredible 2018/19 campaign.
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Longest title drought broken
PAOK broke a 34-year title drought after securing the 2019 Super League crown on Sunday by defeating Levadiakos 5:0 at the Toumba Stadium. It marks the club’s third championship and their first since the 1984/85 season.
Back then, PAOK secured the championship on the second to last matchday of the season, following a 0:0 draw away to Panionios. On that same matchday, PAOK’s main title contender, Panathinaikos, dropped points and as a result, PAOK secured a second title in club history. PAOK lifted the trophy in front of 35,000 fans on the final matchday of the season against rivals Panathinaikos at the Toumba, with the match ending in a 1:1 draw.
PAOK’s 34-year wait to re-claim a Super League title is the longest drought broken in the Greek first division, breaking AEKs Athens’ 24-year long title wait which ended last season (last championship came in 1994). The third longest drought is held by Olympiacos, who had not won a league championship from 1987 until 1997, a 10-year wait.
If Aris are to win a Super League title in the future, they will break PAOK’s 34-year title drought as their last championship came way back in 1946.
Undefeated Super League campaign
PAOK still have unfinished business with one fixture remaining in the Super League season when they travel to PAS Giannina following the Easter break. At the Zosimades, they will look to become just the second club in the top flight of Greek football to go an entire league campaign undefeated. PAOK currently house a record of 25 wins and four draws heading into the final matchday.
The only team to have completed this remarkable achievement is Panathinaikos, who did so during the 1963/64 season under manager Stjepan Bobek. The Prasini completed the season with an impressive 24 wins, six draws, and zero defeats to win the A’ Ethniki title. If PAOK avoid defeat against PAS Giannina on the final matchday, they will finish with a better record than that incredible 1963/64 Panathinaikos side.
PAOK extend unbeaten record to 34 games
PAOK’s last defeat in the Super League came in last season’s controversial derby against AEK Athens at the Toumba Stadium, where the courts ruled a 0:3 away victory to AEK. This decision helped the Enosis secure their first league title in 24 years at the expense of PAOK. The week prior, PAOK suffered a 3:2 defeat away to Asteras Tripolis in a dramatic encounter.
PAOK’s current unbeaten run dates back to the final five matches of last season’s campaign. Across the two seasons, PAOK are currently on a 34-game unbeaten run in the league, which is the third longest unbeaten record in Greek football.
Olympiacos hold the record for the longest streak without defeat at 58 matches which was set between October 1972 and April 1974 while Panathinaikos have the second longest unbeaten streak with 37 matches which was achieved between March 1961 until May 1962.
PAOK score 100 goals in a season
PAOK not only clinched the title over Levadiakos at home on the weekend, they also reached the 100-goal milestone for the season across all competitions. PAOK have scored 64 goals in the league, 22 goals in the Cup, and 15 in Europe (10 in the Champions League and five in the Europa League) to date. PAOK can increase these totals with one match remaining in the Super League and the May 11th Cup Final against AEK.
The last time the Thessalonikis exceeded the 100-goal barrier in a season was in the 2000/01 campaign where they scored 127 goals. That season under manager Dusan Bajevic, PAOK scored 66 goals in the league (finished fourth), 51 goals from 17 matches in the Cup (won the Cup title), and 10 goals in the UEFA Cup (eliminated in the third round).
Even spread of goal scorers
Although PAOK are Super League champions, they will not feature a player in the league’s top-five goal scorers for the season. PAOK’s 64 league goals are second best to Olympiacos’ 68 markers.
Remarkably, former striker Aleksandar Prijovic, who departed in January for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad, remains the club’s top scorer in the league with nine goals! PAOK have had an even spread of goal scorers in the 2018/19 campaign with only 10 players from the entire squad yet to find the back of the net while 21 different players have scored this season for the Thessalonikis.
It is worth mentioning that the league’s top scorer will be Efthimis Koulouris with 19 goals to his name. The Atromitos hitman is on loan at the Peristeri club from PAOK.
Lucescu writes himself into history books
Manager Razvan Lucescu became the third foreign PAOK manager to win the league championship alongside Hungarian Gyula Lorant in the 1975/76 season and Austrian Walter Skocik in the 1984/85 season. He also became the first Romanian manager to win a first division title in Greece.
