Title showdown at the Toumba
Title showdown at the Toumba
GREEK SUPERLEAGUE - MATCHDAY 20
The match which we’ve all been waiting for is here. On Sunday, Super League leaders PAOK host Olympiacos in Thessaloniki, with the trophy potentially up for grabs. AGONAsport previews the showdown..
It’s judgement day for both of these teams. Boasting a healthy six-point lead in first place, a win or a draw would take PAOK closer to their first Greek championship since 1985, however an Olympiacos victory could turn the season upside down.
In his pre-match press briefing, PAOK manager Razvan Lucescu stated that he doesn’t consider this match a final, however no one can argue with the fact that the outcome of this game will have a huge bearing on the fate of the Super League trophy.
So far, the Dikefalos tou Vorra have been fantastic in the domestic league, winning an impressive 17 out of 19 matches to confidently lead the Super League. In the winter, PAOK lost prolific Serbian striker Aleksandar Prijovic, however that hasn’t affected the Thessaloniki club and they know a win over Olympiacos will practically end the title race. Incidentally, PAOK have won all home matches to date in the 2018/2019 Super League.
Nevertheless, an in-form Olympiacos side isn’t going to roll over easily. With head coach Pedro Martins working with the full confidence of the board, the Thrylos have made a vast improvement in comparison to last season, and had they not been so wasteful in front of goal in certain games, they would surely be level with PAOK in first place at the very least. Midfielder Konstantinos Fortounis has been a shining light, while Jose Sa, Mohamed Camara and Daniel Podence have also caught the eye. In 19 games, Olympiacos have claimed 45 points, registering 14 victories, three draws and two defeats.
One of those Olympiacos losses came against PAOK at the Karaiskakis Stadium on September 30, 2018. For long periods, Olympiacos dominated proceedings and created several glorious opportunities, but poor finishing let them down. At the start of the second half, Jagos Vukovic bundled the ball into his own net, and inspired PAOK goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis then made brilliant saves to protect the lead and snatch an important 1:0 win for the visiting team.
Last week, PAOK made the trip to Athens for a match against arch-rivals AEK, picking up a 1:1 draw. Within 10 minutes, Mauricio capitalised on sloppy defending to head PAOK into the lead, however Leo Jaba subsequently received a red card and AEK eventually equalised on 74 minutes through Ezequiel Ponce. Lucescu regarded the result as a “mini victory” for PAOK.
Over in Piraeus, Olympiacos eventually made short work of Panionios, thrashing their Nea Smyrni opponents 4:0. Panionios initially kept the game tight, but midway through the second half, Ahmed Hassan made the breakthrough before Miguel Angel Guerrero, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and Jagos Vukovic increased the lead to four.
PAOK managed to sell out the Toumba Stadium within a mere two hours of ticket sales beginning. In the 2017/2018 season, a flying object which struck then Olympiacos boss Oscar Garcia prevented this fixture from taking place in Thessaloniki, so this year, protective netting has been placed in front of all stadium sectors (except the family stand) to minimize the risk of any trouble occuring.
TEAM NEWS: PAOK
The only injury concern for Lucescu is midfielder Jose Canas. Apart from that, he has a full squad to choose from, and on Saturday it became known that Canas, Alin Tosca, Josip Misic, Pedro Henrique, Nikos Karelis, Stelios Malezas and Yevhen Khacheridi have been left out of the matchday roster. English forward Chuba Akpom has been in promising form recently and is expected to start ahead of Karol Swiderski.
Possible line-up: Paschalakis, Leo Matos, Crespo, Varela, Vieirinha, Mauricio, Shakhov, El Kaddouri, Biseswar, Jaba, Akpom.
TEAM NEWS: OLYMPIACOS
In a surprising move, Pedro Martins has opted to take veteran defender Avraam Papadopoulos to Thessaloniki, although the 34-year-old is unlikely to play. Olympiacos are without right-back Omar Elabdellaoui due to injury, while in midfield, Mohamed Camara and Bibars Natcho will protect defence. Either Miguel Angel Guerrero or Ahmed Hassan will lead the line, but Franco Soldano didn’t make the trip to Northern Greece.
Possible line-up: Sa, Torosidis, Vukovic, Cisse, Koutris, Camara, Natcho, Podence, Christodoulopoulos, Fortounis, Guerrero.
REFEREE: JESUS GIL MANZANO (ESP)
35-year-old Jesus Gil Manzano will be the man in the middle in Thessaloniki. This season, Manzano has refereed two UEFA Champions League matches, overseeing the Schalke 04 - Porto (1:1) and Napoli - Red Star Belgrade (3:1) games. In the UEFA Europa League, he worked over the Bordeaux - Gent (2:0) and Marseille - Lazio (1:3) matches, and the Spaniard also took charge of the Sweden - Turkey (2:3) UEFA Nations League fixture.
In La Liga, Manzano has worked over 11 matches in this campaign, including several games involving Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant referees: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP), Diego Barbero (ESP)
Fourth official: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)
WHERE TO WATCH
Watch the match LIVE on AGONAsport here, available worldwide except in Greece or Cyprus! You can find full TV listings for Greece, Canada, the USA and Australia on this link.
by Shaun Nicolaides
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