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As pash said, it doesn't help or alter anything for the coming seasons (24-25) European places, they are set. But their win means Greece moves to 15th place in the rankings and for the European season 25-26 we will have 5 teams in Europe. Top 2 will play Champions League qualifiers, 3rd and 4th Conference League qualifying and the cup winner will play in the Europa League qualifiers. Now this also happened in 2022 when we made the Conference League quarters, Greece ended up ranked 15th and with 2 teams in Champions League qualifying earlier this season (AEK and PAO) but we obviously slid back down the rankings and that's why next season there is only one team in the Champions League. Thankfully that's us. So hopefully Greek teams (not just us and Olympicos) can go on with this and have runs in Europe and continue to push the nation up the rankings and we can hold onto the 2 UCL spots as well as gain ground in the qualifying rounds and maybe even add an extra European ticket. Because when you look at the country coefficient, on paper there is really no reason we couldn't be ranked around 10th. Currently Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Scotland and the Czech Republic leagues rank ahead of ours. With the big 4 teams in the shape they are currently in, there is no reason we can't push past these countries in the next few years and end up with much better European tickets than we currently have. https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociations/uefarankings/country/?year=2024

That is a great question. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it helps, apart from giving Olympiakos an advantageous entry into the EL. Right now, it looks like: PAOK - 2nd Qualifying Round for Champions League Olympiakos - direct qualification to League Phase for Europa League (for winning the Conference League) Panathinaikos - 2nd Qualifying Round for Europa League AEK - 2nd Qualifying Round for Conference League Had Olympiakos not won, they would have been in the Conference League, in the same qualifying round AEK is in. Instead, Greece's berth for that position is vacated. My guess is that Panathinaikos will fail to make it to the EL (there are some very good teams in there, and they are characteristically unseeded). If we screw up, we might join them in the Conference League.

I think we should be concentrating on not selling anyone ... where possible ... given that we realistically have our best chance ever at qualifying for the Champions League. In previous seasons we had the more difficult path playing stronger teams. By winning the title we at least give ourselves a better chance. Bringing in new players is not the problem per se. It's if these players are replacements for *starting 11* players. If for example, Kotarski, Koulierakis, Konstantelias are sold and let's say Meite isn't bought, then that's 4 starting 11 players that must be replaced for the qualifiers. That's not exactly a recipe for winning, especially given how long Lucescu takes to acclimatise players to have the right men-ta-li-ty as I love to hear him say. As for the 15 million for Konstantelias, I don't know, it seems a bit meh. These days 15 million is nothing special at all. Go look at the transfer history of mid table French or Italian teams and they spend that and more on players like it's nothing. At the very least we should be holding on to the players we have for the first qualifier. That game is KEY. We win, we are guaranteed Conference League football. We lose ... I don't even want to think about it.

Firstly, congratulations to Olympiacos (ducks head while the crowd throws food at me) on winning the UEFA Conference League. A historic achievement for Olympiacos and for Greek football. What are the implications for the number teams in Europe next season? Does this mean O Aris gets a spot? Wouldn't that be funny ...

We're kind of at the point where 13 million is probably not making a big dent - I don't think that even covers wages for a year. However, there's another possibility - if financial fair play essentially caps any yearly inflows by ownership, but does not cap aggregate inflows across years (I'm not sure if this is the case), then he could be just contributing the max he can each year, regardless of how much the team actually needs. That would build up the team's cash position for any future uses. Just a thought, though. Also, to circle back on PaokCT's post - if we get a handful of rotational players and then four starter level dudes, we could be seeing some significant outflows. And if we get ~15mm for Konstantelias, and manage to sign that Russian dude as his replacement (as a free agent), then we will be in a fantastic position to spend elsewhere.

Sheez, apparently we are still not financially self sufficient. The article states the sum total of funds invested by Ivan Savvidis is 194 million. Not enough I tells ya, not enough. Leave now! Oust.

The championship trophy travelled to Rostov, so Ivan Savvidis could take some pictures with it.

Yeah, Besiktas could easily afford the price. While this could just be twitter banter, there is a very real danger that they could snatch him away from us. Fortunately, there are also other rumors floating around - Mourinho is available, and might be interested. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40184004/besiktas-president-says-club-talks-hire-jose-mourinho From the article: "He said he would think about it and give us an answer. He responded after a while and said he would like to meet again in Italy next week. "We [have] met Mourinho's financial expectations. We are prepared to satisfy his salary demands. We will evaluate his hiring with the board of directors. If we reach an agreement with Mourinho, we will recommend that he includes [ex-Besiktas player] Ricardo Quaresma in the [coaching] team." -edit- I know every news site reads us, so perhaps this was written by Mr Tsalgatidis to make me feel better. https://inpaok.com/823306/o-loutseskou-ekopse-ton-vicha-ton-tourkon/

Stefanos won (6-3, 6-2, 6-7 and 6-4). In R3 his opponent is from either Italy or China.

It isn't. Lucescu's contract includes a clause allowing him to leave for €2 million if he receives an offer from one of the top five European leagues, or €4 million if the offer comes from outside these leagues.

His buyout has to be a lot, right? If he leaves us again, he won't be welcome back in Thessaloniki. Two times now. If he does, Fernando Santos, welcome!

For sure. Turks are apparently going nuts with Lucescu rumors btw. New set today saying he's meeting some Besiktas people in Thessaloniki (though I thought he had already gone back to Romania??). It would be just like us to lose him, and therefore all of our progress.

10 Czech Republic 2.500 6.600 6.700 6.750 13.500 36.050 4 11 Scotland 9.750 8.500 7.900 3.500 6.400 36.050 5 12 Switzerland 6.400 5.125 7.750 8.500 5.200 32.975 5 13 Austria 5.800 6.700 10.400 4.900 4.800 32.600 5 14 Norway 3.750 6.500 7.625 5.750 8.000 31.625 4 15 Greece 4.900 5.100 8.000 2.125 11.400 31.525 5 16 Denmark 5.125 4.125 7.800 5.900 8.500 31.450 4 Wow - Who would have thought that we would move to 15th!!

All signs are pointing to us having a VERY BUSY transfer window. I can see us bringing in as many as 7-8 players. Figure 4 rotational players, 4 starters. Let's see how much $ we dish out.

After a month, the Wiki is back up and running. Hopefully, for a VERY long time.

Another great chapter added to the glorious history of PAOK! Congratulations. Job well done!!!

Congratulations to Olympiacos! Well done! Great win for the team, great moment for bring Greek soccer to the highest levels of European performances!

53 Greek athletes will take part of the 2024 European Athletics Championship in Rome, Italy Women 100m and 200m: Polyniki Emmanouilidou 200m: Artemis Anastasiou 10,000m: Anastasia Marinakou, Dafni Lavasa 100m Hurdles: Elisavet Pesiridou 400m Hurdles: Dimitra Gnafaki High Jump: Tatiana Gusin, Panagiota Dosi Pole Vault: Katerina Stefanidi, Eleni Polak, Ariadni Adamopoulou Triple Jump: Maria Purtsa, Oxana Koreneva Shot Put: Maria Maggoulia, Anastasia Dragomirova Hammer Throw: Stamatia Skarveli Javelin Throw: Elina Tzengko 20 km Race Walk: Antigoni Drisbioti, Kyriaki Filtisakou, Penny Tsinopoulou, Christina Papadopoulou Half Marathon: Iota Vlachaki 4x100m Relay: Elisavet Peseridou, Artemis Anastasiou, Dimitra Tsoukala, Rafailia Spanoudaki, Stella Michaelidou, Polyniki Emmanouilidou Men 100m: Yiannis Nyfantopoulos 200m: Sotiris Garagiannis, Yannis Kariofyllis 110m Hurdles: Kostas Douvalidis 400m Hurdles: Dimitris Levantinos 10,000m: Kostas Stamoulis, Nikos Stamoulis, Marios Anagnostou Half Marathon: Panagiotis Karaiskos High Jump: Antonios Merlos Pole Vault: Emmanouil Karalis, Yiannis Rizos Long Jump: Miltos Tentoglou Triple Jump: Dimitris Tsiamis, Andreas Pantazis, Nikolaos Andrikopoulos Shot Put: Odysseus Mouzenidis, Tasos Latiflari Hammer Throw: Christos Frantzeskakis, Michalis Anastasakis, Kostas Zaltos Javelin Throw: Giannis Kyriazis Decathlon: Angelos Andreoglou 20 km Race Walk: Alexandros Papamichal 4x100m Relay: Giannis Nyfantopoulos, Sotiris Garagiannis, Yiannis Kariofyllis, Myriathopoulos, Panagiotopoulos, Vassilis Papamargaritis, Giannis Voskopoulos

They would have been stupid not to, with his numbers. Good news for our bank account I guess, but it's a shame they didn't get promoted. Made the buy even more of a no-brainer for them. Also good news: Savvidis has plowed another 13 million into the club (an additional equity investment).

I kept looking at that Klopp book hahaha My favorite bit was when Kolkas gave a (very leading IMO) question about how important this trophy was. And Lucescu was like nah fam the Asian Champions League was the best.

We just made 600,000 Euros. Fortuna permanently signed Tzolis and we received 17.5% from it

Loved this interview @pash thank you. I'm also fascinated as to where it was shot. The random stuff on the bookshelf had me distracted. I have a feeling it is Lucescu's place as there is a Romanian-Greek dictionary

CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE! WHAT A GREAT MOMENT IN GREEK FOOTBALL HISTORY SINCE EURO 2004!

Woah!!

Greece (31.525) now very close to passing Norway (31.625) in 14th place in the 5-year ranking.