Kotarski kept PAOK at bay and Toumba will judge the dream!

THE hot Tuba will judge the ticket to his semi-finals European Conference League!

THE PAOK were beaten 1-0 in Belgium by Club Brugge in the first leg of the quarter-final stage, where he was not good, he was unable to look dangerous at almost any point of the match, but saw the Dominic Kotarski to keep him alive in the qualifying round.

The Croat did great savesone of them and the most important being Thiago’s penalty, with the score giving Razvan Lucescu’s team the right to believe that they can overturn it in next week’s rematch (18/02, 22:00) in Thessaloniki.

In the… minds of the coaches:

With 3-5-2 lined up Club Brugge o Nikki Hagen. Under the goalposts, Jakers, with Spillers, Mechele, De Kuyper making up the trio of stoppers. Onientika, Vanaken and Fetlesen in the midfield, with Sabe taking over the entire right side, while Skoras the left. Thiago and Jutgla took the starting jersey at the top of the attack.

The well-known 4-2-3-1 formation was chosen for PAOK by Razvan Lucescu. Kotarski at home, with Koulierakis and Kenziora as central defenders, while Vieirinia (right) and Baba (left) took positions at the ends of the defense. Meite and Ozdoev in the midfield duo, with Constantelia in the role of “10” and Tyson (left) and Zivkovic (right) on the wings. Samata was chosen by the Romanian coach in the center forward position.

The match:

The first phase of the game came just after 2′ when Tyson took the free-kick from the left with his header Samata to pass out. On the other hand, however, Club Brugge in its first offensive attempt managed to score: Yutgla saw the big gap that PAOK had outside his area and distributed to Fetlesenwho calmly beat Kotarski, sending the ball into the net for 1-0.

At the end of the first quarter, the Belgians had a good moment to find a second goal, when De Kuyper made the turn, with Tiago not to have time to put his foot before an empty hearth. The Thessalonians then took measures on the field, however, they were unable to look threatening in the home of Yakers, with the home team having their lines very correctly formed in the field of play.

The match he had no remarkable phases in the two goals, in the 37th minute Fetlesen tried to shoot from inside the area, but Kenziora got his foot on the ball in time and kicked it for a corner. In the 39th minute, Konstantelias with good energy stepped into the area, but his attempt was blocked and later in the phase the Meite made the shot, which went wide, in PAOK’s first real final after Samata’s header in the second minute. THE Tyson in the 44th minute in stoppage time he tried his feet, but saw the ball go over the crossbar of Yakers and that’s how the first half ended.

Without any big moment the beginning of the second half, with Jutgla to step into the area in 54′ from a marginal position, but his finish went into Kotarski’s side net. The hosts were finding empty spaces, since PAOK tried to raise their lines and in the 58th minute they missed a great opportunity to find a second goal: Skoras made the turn in the area, with the ball going to Yutgla who shot from close range, but Kotarski he snapped instinctively.

In the 62nd minute, Despodov replaced Constantelia for Lucescu’s first substitution, while four minutes later (66′) Tyson broke quickly on the counter and passed to Zivkovic, who broke for Despodov, but the Belgians managed to cut . In the 72nd minute Ozdoev couldn’t get his head on Zivkovic’s free-kick, while in the 76th Brugge won a penalty: Nusa saw Onientika’s move, with Kotarski coming out clumsily to trip him. Nevertheless, Kotarski refused to execute Thiago, keeping alive the “black and white”!

In the last quarter, PAOK tried to find a good moment with the tireless forward, Tysonbut to no avail, while Despodov’s foul execution in stoppage time he didn’t threaten Yackers. The final whistle found Club Brugge 1-0 winners, but the “black and white” they stayed alive in the qualifying round and will play their rest in the rematch of Toumba.

MVP: PAOK may have been defeated, but Dominic Kotarski he was the most valuable player of the match. He makes a big intervention in the 58th minute on Jutgla’s shot and says “no” to Thiago’s penalty, keeping the “biceps of the North” alive ahead of the rematch.

The whistle: Without any mistake, the refereeing of the German, Zibertwith his Bruges penalty tip being correct.

Club Brugge (Nicky Hagen): Jakers, Spillers (56′ Ordoneth), Mechele, De Kuyper, Sabe, Onyendika, Vanaken, Fetlesen, Skoras, Thiago, Jutgla (72′ Musa).

PAOK (Razvan Lucescu): Kotarski, Vieirinia (81′ Yoni), Kenziora, Koulierakis, Baba, Meite, Ozdoev (72′ Schwab), A. Zivkovic, Constantelias (62′ Despodov), Tyson, Samata (72′ Thomas).

Referee: Zimbert (Germany)

Assistants: Seidel, Foltin (Germany)

4th: Jamblonski (Germany)

VAR: Fritz (Germany)

See here the live of the match.