Time final in the Panthessal Stadium!
Panathinaikos and Aris cross swords on Saturday night (25/5, 20:30) in his final Greek Cup Betsson. In the game that concludes the season in terms of the “high layers” of Greek football, with the first title of the season – that of the champion – having ended up with PAOK.
The match will be televised live from Cosmote Sport 1 HD and filmed by SKY (at 23:50), radioed by News Bulletin 247 and Dionysis Desyllas-Alexis Savvopoulos, while there will also be a live update from sport-fm.gr.
A big meeting that will be held for one more season in camera…
A showdown with huge stake for both groups. The goal seems to be common: Winning the trophy.
However, as was seen from the statements of the coaches and players who represented the two teams at the joint press conference that took place on Friday (24/5), there are motivations that prevail for each of the two.
On the one hand, therefore, the “greens” obviously wish, first of all, to conquer it 20th Cup in their history (they have 19 victories in their 30 appearances in the final) and first after the 2022. However, now, beyond the… material stake there is also his European ticketwhich they failed to secure through the championship finishing in 4th place. Hence, it is imperative to win the Cup, which sends the winner to Europa League qualifiers. “I can’t imagine Panathinaikos not playing in EuropeFotis Ioannidis emphasized yesterday.
In the last game of the “greens”, last Sunday (19/5) in the derby with Olympic at Leoforo for the 10th and last matchday of the Stoiximan Super League playoffs, o Christos Kontis made his debut on their bench as a caretaker coach (replacing Fatih Terim). Panathinaikos – for the first hour of the match – managed to present one best writing sample compared to his last games. However, his performance subsequently dropped, resulting in a 2-0 advantage giving him a place in the final 2-2 and by extension the Europa Conference League ticket to the “red and whites”.
On the other hand, they certainly want it on Mars European ticket which, also, they have not secured. Nevertheless, in the organization of Thessaloniki – both within the team and at world level (which set… the tone in the midweek open training at “Kl. Vikelidis”) – what is important is back to the titles. After all, winning the trophy will constitute the second in their history (they have won the Greek Cup once in their nine appearances in the final) and first after 54 years (1970 the last)! “Qualifying for Europe is very important. But more important is winning the Cup. We have been dreaming of a title with the team for many years“, Julian Cuesta underlined for his part.
Aris finished at 5th place of the Stoiximan Super League playoffs. Pushing himself ahead of the final, he raised his performance (after a slight bend) in the final stretch of the mini-championship. Last Sunday he was defeated 2-1 in “Kl. Vikelidis” by PAOK, a result that sealed the winning of the title for the “black and whites”. The home team performed very well, trying to prevent their great rival from celebrating the championship at home. However, without succeeding (in fact, they missed a huge opportunity with Ansarifard at 90’+5′, in order to equalize again).
On to the racing part now, neither team announced a mission.
First for Panathinaikos, Christos Kontis took with him all the available players, in a mission of 29 footballers. So it’s interesting who will make the top 20, given that regulation for the mandatory presence in it of two players under the age of 19. So, the left-footed winger, Giorgos, is counted Kyriopoulos and the 18-year-old stopper, Giorgos Katris. He returned to training last Tuesday (21/5) and Fotis has the lead for the starting line-up Ioannidis. The Erics were left out Palmer-Brown and Samet Acaidin.
On the other hand, Fran is available for the Thessalonians Veleth. Since Michael Panagidis -who is anyway in the rotation of Akis Manziou- will be one of the two footballers who will meet the age limit for the under-19s, the other position in the team will be played between the young goalkeeper, Konstantinos Dominant and the 18-year-old forward, Thodoros-Giorgos Marketable.
The possible compositions of the two teams:
Panathinaikos (Christos Kontis): Lodingin – Kotsiras, Arao, Gedvai, Huancar – Pereth, Cerin, Bakasetas – Mancini, Ioannidis, Bernard.
Aris (Akis Manzios): Cuesta – Odubazzo, Fabiano, Brumbetz, Montoya – Jules, Darinda, Manu Garcia – Suleimanov, Moron, Saverio.
He will be the referee of the match the French elite referee Stephanie Frapard.
First Assistant: Michael Bercebrew (France)
Second Assistant: Steven Torregrossa (France)
4th referee: Aristotle Diamantopoulos
VAR: Hamid Ghenawi (France), AVAR: Konstantinos Psarris (Zante)
In case of a tie in normal time will follow half hour extra time and if necessary the process of penalty kick .
The path of the two teams to the final:
Panathinaikos eliminated him in the round of 16 Olympic (1-1 home, 0-0 away, 6-7 on penalties), in the “8” year Fearless (1-2 in, 0-2 away) and in “4” the PAOK (0-1 away, 0-1 home, 1-2 in overtime, 6-5 on penalties). “Hero” in the… Russian roulette against Piraeus Lodingin, while against Thessaloniki Dragovski.
Aris eliminated in the “16” the AEK (0-0 away, 1-1 at home, 4-2 on penalties), in the quarter-finals on Victory of Volos (3-0 home, 2-2 away) and in the semi-finals Panetolico (0-1 away, 0-0 home).
The two teams have met in two Cup finals. To both the “greens” have prevailedwith 3-1 1940 and with 1-0 2010.
This season they have four meetings. Each team won 2-0 at home in regular timewhile both got a “double” in the playoffs (2-0 Panathinaikos, 1-0 Aris). In the game of regular duration at “Kl. Vikelidis” on the bench of the “clover” was Ivan Yovanovitch, while in the next three was Fatih Terim. Akis Manzios continues in the equivalent of the “yellows” from last year.
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
