pash

Haha Ivic absolutely laying into the ref

And that's game. Bad performance by our guys, but we're through to the next round.

Did the linesman just wave a flag for offsides, but the ref played on? What the hell? Guy was clearly offside, too

Soltani off with a red. Not soon enough if you ask me.

Four minutes extra time...

Prijovic about to come on. Good hustle by Campos saving that ball and then getting the corner

And there's the set piece goal

Handball in a dangerous space...

Biseswar coming on for Pelkas

^ we truly are living in blessed times, Blackhawk

I'd be surprised if we don't see Prijovic come on, though it won't do any good if he's not fed. Maybe Biseswar in for Pelkas or Campos?

Team booed at half time, rightly so. Stadium remarkably full for this match.

Wonderful consecutive dives by Xanthi players.

Yeah, sloppy game. What the hell is happening on the sideline?

Good lineup. Assuming Campos shows up. --Glykos-- --Kitsiou--Varela--Crespo--Leovac-- --Cimirot--Shakhov-- --Campos--Pelkas--Mistakidis-- --Koulouris-- Bench: Siabanis, Matos, Malezas, Kace, Biseswar, Mattheou, Prijovic

This is amazing. So fun to read!

Well, first two competitors are all but assured - Panathinaikos beat Asteras Tripolis 0-1 (0-5 on aggregate) to book their place in the next round. AEK is currently leading against a ten-man Platanias 2-0 at home (after a scoreless first round). Would be a huge upset if Platanias could steal a tie out of this.

Vellidis is trying out for Nottingham Forest. Would be a good move if he can swing that. Good luck to him.

Well we did just loan Lamprou out for 1.5 years ;)

I agree about Cimirot and Matos resting (though Matos did get a full week off prior to the game vs Iraklis). Kace should have played last time, but I think Charisis wasn't bad - Kace should have been in for Cimirot, IMO. I think your lineup is good, however. With some combination of Canas/Henrique/Warda/Prijovic coming on as subs later on. Good to see Shakhov back, surely he'll get the start. We're in a good position to get through, with two away goals. Hopefully Xanthi tired themselves out vs Panathinaikos last weekend.

I just hope the stadium will be full. I don't think the guys will be as lethargic as last time (but who knows, anything could happen). Looking forward to it, either way.

The team is also reportedly interested in renewing Malezas' contract, possibly for another two years (or a 1+1). He's been great this season and the only cheaper CB we have is Poungouras, I'd say this is a good value deal. He seems to be in great shape, and some CBs age more like fine wine than milk. Delicious, delicious Malezas.

Feels too soon to start a summer transfer thread, so I'll add this here - Sabo's current team (Beitar Jerusalem) is real happy with him and want to extend his loan for an extra year. What a sneaky way of buying a player without paying for him. If they want him so bad, surely they can put a few euros down to pay for him.

Maybe Antonis will claim the spot ;)

I watched that game (and had completely forgotten that this was KPaps' team), and remember thinking "damn they could really use a good center back." Haha!