PAOK lost in Denmark and… with its back to the wall!

With his back to the wall o PAOK. The “Northern biceps” was defeated (1-0) at its headquarters Midlandin the first meeting of the two teams for the Playoffs of the Europa Conference League, with his task difficult in view of the rematch next Thursday (24/2).

Rasvan Lucescu’s team was excellent in the beginning, but conceded the goal (20 ‘Anderson) in the first good moment of the Danes, which came from huge gap in defense. The Thessalonians had a hard time threatening in the second half, with the hosts having beam in the 90 ‘.

In the … minds of coaches:

With system 3-4-3 presented the Midland The Bo Henriksen. Under the beams was Olafson, with the trio of stoppers being Dalsgaard, Sviatshenko and Zuninho. At both ends of the midfield were Anderson and Deer, with Onietika and Evander composing the duo in the center midfield. Isaacen, Brumando and Sisto are in the top three.

“Faithful” in 4-2-3-1 The Rasvan Lucescu. Paschalakis was at home, with Lyratzis and Siddklay at both ends of the defense. Ingasson and Crespo are the duo in the stoppers, with Tsingaras and Swab being the respective in the midfield. Augusto moved in front of them, Andrija Zivkovic on the right, Mitrica on the left, while Akpom at the top of the attack.

The match:

Dynamic start from PAOK. Rasvan Lucescu’s players on the one hand kept their positions not allowing the Danes to play the fast they like, on the other hand they tried to create their moments. In fact, they had the first chance in the match, with the shot of the forward Cindley in the 9 ‘ to leave over the horizontal beam.

In the 15 ‘ Zivkovic took him out with an excellent vertical in a four-on-four position August, with the flag stopping the effort of the “biceps of the North” in a marginal phase. Three minutes later, o Zivkovic caught a fake place inside the opponent’s area, watching him Olafson to drive away with difficulty.

Nevertheless, Midtjylland was happy to score in its first good moment, at 20 ‘, which of course brought the signature of PAOK … defensive oligarchy. Huge gap on the left, with him Evander to find the forgotten with a wonderful transfer Andersonwho did the 1-0 with place from diagonal position.

The possession of the ball was then shared (at 51% -49% in favor of the hosts), with the Thessalonians throwing rhythms, but still having their moments. Best of all his head Cigarettes from the “heart” of the area to 44 ‘ (after Zivkovic’s sweet cross), with the ball … licking the right crossbar.

Lucescu made the first corrective move at the start of the second half, with Biseswar to take his place Mitritsa. Of course, more aggressive in the first minutes were the hosts, who threatened with their shots Brumando (48 ‘), Ίσακσεν (50 ‘) and Onietika (50 ‘), with Paschalakis to be present in several cases within the game.

The minutes went by, with the hosts starting to play with the clock early on. Midtjylland’s defense chased his dangerous turn Vieriniawho had gone inside the field in 69 ‘instead of Swab (with Augusto returning to the midfield next to Tsingaras, Biseswar becoming the staff and the Portuguese ace moving to his left).

The Thessalonians were trying to threaten mainly from the left with Vierinias. However, the only good – and even huge – moment until the last whistle was found by the Danes in 90 ‘with his long shot Charleswhich collided with right beam of Paschalakis’s home (close to the contribution), with 1-0 remaining until the last whistle.

MVP: The informal distinction will go to the scorer Anderson. The ace of the Danes did many kilometers, while in the goal phase he acted as the modern full back that every team wants, being promoted to the back of the defense to score. Paschalakis is good for PAOK but also Zivkovic of the first part.

The whistle: The match for Englishman Craig Powson went smoothly. Essentially, the only phase that raised some reactions was that in 15 ‘, where Augusto was indicated in an offside position.

The compositions of the two groups:

Midtjylland (Bo Henriksen, 3-4-3): Olafsson – Dalsgaard, Sviatsenko, Zuninho – Anderson, Onietika, Evander (60 ‘Meyer), Dir (60’ Paulinho) – Isaacsen (70 ‘Charles), Brumando (70’ Lind), Sisto (82 ‘Maroni).

On the bench for the hosts were left: Thompson, Betson, Heg, Ticosen, Wagner Love, Sorensen, Strawberry.

PAOK (Rasvan Lucescu, 4-2-3-1): Paschalakis – Lyratzis, Ingason, Crespo, Siddklay (79 ‘El Kantouri) – Tsigaras, Swab (69’ Vierinia) – A. Zivkovic, Augusto (79 ‘Soares), Mitritsa (46’ Bisesbar).

On the bench for the guests were left: Talichmanidis, Z. Zivkovic, Mihai, Taylor, Tsolak, Giaxis, Koulierakis, Koutsias.

Referee: Craig Powson

Assistants: Lee Bets, Ian Hashin

4th Referee: Robert Jones

Watch the live of the match here.