Panathinaikos aim to keep history on their side in tense derby grudge match
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 23
| Panathinaikos | 19:00 (GR) | PAOK |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, 3-Mar |
Panathinaikos host rivals PAOK in what is the headline fixture in Matchday 23 of the Greek Super League. AGONAsport’s Nick Tsambouniaris previews the encounter..
The Championship is reaching its climax, with only 8 matches left this season. PAOK are on track to win their first League title since 1985. They have proven that they are by far the best team in the competition this season. The fact that they still remain without a loss in March is a great testament to that. The aim is to now go through the entire season without a loss.
With less than a third of the season remaining, the Thessaloniki outfit will no doubt have this on their minds. Ironically, their opponent on Sunday evening, Panathinaikos are the only team in history to go through a whole season unbeaten. The Greens achieved this famous triumph in the 1963-64 season and it is yet to be emulated again. A proud record no other team can boast of.
These two sides simply do not like each other. Violence and fan troubles have been a regular occurence over the years when they meet, most notably in 2014 and 2017 in recent years, when players and coaches have been hit by projectiles from the crowd and clashes with authorities have ensued.
As a result, Panathinaikos would love nothing more than to spoil PAOK’s party and maintain their record as being the only team to remain without a single loss in a season, in front of their own fans at OAKA. Gate 13 has made this clear urging fans to attend and cheer the team on to keep this proud record. Midfielder Christos Donis also added fuel to the fire by stating that “only one team win a Championship undefeated”.
Panathinaikos enter this derby in a horrible run of form, having only won twice in 2019 to date, however, they are still yet to taste a home defeat this season. They were picked apart by Panionios at Nea Smyrni last weekend which does not bode well as the team enters a tricky three week period in terms of fixtures.
Meanwhile, PAOK have also been sketchy themselves recently as Aris scored late at Toumba last week to salvage a draw in the Macedonian derby and needed a major bit of luck to get past Panionios in extra time of the Greek Cup quarter finals midweek.
Panathinaikos’ young guns have faded in recent weeks as expected as they still come to terms with the rigours of playing at senior level week in, week out. More experienced players such as Federico Macheda have also dropped off, as others play through injury. The loss of goal machine Aleksandar Prijovic has not affected PAOK, as Chuba Akpom has stepped up and Pole Karol Swiderski has been an astute signing. Experience and consistency have been the hallmarks of PAOK’s season and veteran skipper Vieirinha epitomises that best.
PAOK won 2-0 the last time the two sides met in the first half of the season at Toumba as their experience and composure showed. Panathinaikos put in a decent performance but were simply outgunned in what was their first loss of the season.
Team News: Panathinaikos
Paschalis Staikos looks set to be the only new absentee for the Trifylli after picking up an injury. Injuries have been a major setback for the team this season and Anthony Mounier is out again in what is proving to be a stop-start season for the French winger. This fixture has also come too soon for Ousmane Coulibaly. For a team severely lacking depth this is not good news. Coach Giorgos Donis has proven he is tactically flexible and not afraid to make big changes. Rumour has it that he may revert to a back three for this fixture in a bid to keep the middle of the park congested to frustrate PAOK.
Possible line-up: Dioudis, Kolovetsios, Poungouras, Mavromatis, Johansson, Insua, Kourbelis, Kace, Bouzoukis, Chatzigiovannis, Macheda.
Team News: PAOK
Dimitris Pelkas is the big absentee for the away side. The midfielder could face up to a month on the sidelines. Omar El Kaddouri (also injured) and Jose Canas (lack of training) will also miss out as they have been left out of the squad. Other than that, Razvan Lucescu will look to keep the side relatively settled as many players pick themselves following great performances so far this season. Josip Misic and Leo Jaba have made the squad and look set to play a part after recovering from knocks picked up in training.
Possible line-up: Paschalakis, Matos, Varela, Crespo, Vieirinha, Shakhov, Mauricio, Jaba, Biseswar, Limnios, Akpom.
Referee: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Danish referee Jakob Kehlet has been called in to take charge of this derby. As of this season, foreign referees have come in to take control of Greek derbies and overall it has been to a relatively good effect. The experienced, 38 year old Dane has been a FIFA accredited official since 2011. He has refereed PAOK’s UEFA Europa League fixture against Qabala in the 2015-16 season and Xanthi’s UEFA Europa League qualifier against Standard Liege in the 2013-14 season. On top of this, he was the referee in the Ethniki’s first FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifier against Gibraltar, in which the Ethniki emerged victorious with a 1-4 scoreline in Portugal.
Referee: Kehlet (DEN)
Assistant Referees: Hummelgaard (DEN), Sorensen (DEN)
Fourth Official: Tsamouris (GRE)
