PAOK-AEK: Are the Thessalonians getting back into the gulf or is the “Union” picking up?

“Double-header” derby or otherwise… championship final in Tuba!

A pivotal match for the title battle takes place on Sunday afternoon (28/4, 19:30), with PAOK welcoming AEK in the 8th round of the Stoximan Super League playoffs.

The match will be televised from Novasports Prime and radio by News Bulletin 247while there will be live updates from sport-fm.gr.

So, in the final stretch of the championship. Possibly everything will be decided tonight.

Something that will happen if the “Union” leaves Thessaloniki with the “double”. And this because Matias Almeida’s team – after the midweek home win (3-0) on it Panathinaikou but also the losses of PAOK and Olympiakos at the seats of Lamia (1-1) and Aris (1-1), respectively – on the one hand it remained at the top (75b.), on the other hand it is in the +4 from the “greens” (2nd, 71b.), at +7 from the “bicephalus of the North” (3rd, 68b.) and at +8 from the Piraeus (4th, 67b.). Of course, the last two also have one less matchesthe derby between them in Toumba.

It should be recalled that the “yellow and black” excel in a possible tie with Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, while tonight the draw with PAOK will be decided. In particular, if they are not defeated, they will also “have” the Thessalonians, who only need victory for this factor as well.

However, PAOK has a chance to get back into the game, given that it welcomes the pioneer AEK but also that it then has the derbies with Olympiakos and Panathinaikos at home. Of course, his work is not easy, just like that of the two “eternals”. It requires continuous positive results and losses of the “Union”. However, everyone still has their chances, which of course will vary tonight (for better or worse).

At the same time, in the camp of the “double-headed of the North” – where on Friday (26/4) Rasvan Lucescu quoted rally meal– faith is expressed that the situation can change. After all, the team of the Romanian technician seemed “emptied” psychologically in the stadium of Lamia. Where the home team took the lead in the 45’+4′ with Slivkas and the “black and white” – who again had a very mediocre appearance – equalized at 90’+10′ with Schwab and while their opponents were left from the 90′ ​​with a player less due to a direct red to Amaral (for insulting his protests).

After all, for PAOK they were ahead in order three straight losses, initially from Bruges, which brought elimination to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League, and then from Olympiakos in the “G. Karaiskakis”. While, if we also add the 2-2 draw with AEK at the OPAP Arena – where, of course, Lucescu’s team came back from 2-0 down – he has completed five games without a win. He is therefore called upon to show a reaction. Element which during this season has proven to “have”.

On the other hand, as noted, AEK originates from dominant performance against Panathinaikos, one of her best – if not her best – this season. A major protagonist for the “two-headed” – in general this year he is putting forward a strong candidacy – o Eliasson who opened the scoring in the 7th minute and made the final 3-0 in the 69th minute, while in between (38th minute) Ponce scored his 15th goal in the current league. In a generally impressive game for Matias Almeida’s team, which could have extended the score even further (he also had a double goalpost among others). Mainly, however, he did not allow the “greens” to appear, in a final for themselves (since they were chasing and could overtake AEK if they prevailed).

The doubles of Greece, therefore, they want the victory in Toumba, in order to clean up from tonight. After all, there is also a game at “G. Karaiskakis” (where of course there is a good tradition about Almeida), however after three week break (so her pace and momentum may have been lost).

It should be noted that AEK essentially with five points the remaining three matches crowned champion for the second season in a row, without expecting any losses from its competitors.

PAOK’s schedule for the remaining matches: AEK (home, 28/4), Olympiacos (home, 12/5), Panathinaikos (home, 15/5), Aris (away, 19/5).

AEK’s schedule for the remaining matches: PAOK (away, 28/4), Olympiacos (away, 15/5), Lamia (inside, 19/5).

In the racing part, now, the two teams did not announce a mission. Data except for the home team is o Troost-Ekongwhile for the guests o Mukudi.

Possible compositions:

PAOK (Rasvan Lucescu): Kotarski – Otto, Kenziora, Koulierakis, Baba – Ozdoev, Meite – Zivkovic, Murg, Tyson – Thomas.

AEK (Matias Almeida): Athanasiadis – Rota, Vida, Cullens, Hadjisafi – Eliasson, Simanski, Pineda, Gacinovic – Garcia, Zuber.

Referee: Robert Schroeder (Germany)

First Assistant: Norbert Sven Grudzinski

Second Assistant: Jan Clemens Nigel Petersen

4th referee: Panagiotis-Raphael Tsiaras

VAR: Timo Gerach (Germany)

This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams this season. In the context of the first round of the regular season, AEK had prevailed 2-0 at the OPAP Arena. The match in the second round ended in a draw (1-1), as well as the one for the first round of the playoffs (2-2) in New Philadelphia. In the last two, PAOK came back from being down 1-0 and 2-0, respectively, with a goal in the 89th minute.

In 73 meetings between the two teams in the championship with PAOK as host:

33 PAOK wins

25 ties

15 AEK wins

Goal: 97-63