PAOK History in Europe

[pash]

Almost four weeks until the first match. Lots of time to prepare, and of course that first one should be the second-easiest (with the easiest being our last of course). For one the schedule is kindest to us. Team should be fully ready, finally.

[Blackhawk]

The minimum points in the first 3 games should be 7 points. With a win at Toumba against Copenhagen in the 4th game we will lock in the 2nd place, if not the 1st place.

[PAOKSYD]

Any friendlies lined up due to delay in season commencement? 

[Dutch Eagle]

Maybe. But the national teams have qualifiers so a lot of players (like Paschalakis, Swiderski, Kurtic, Michailidis Tsiggaras) are on tour. 

[Blackhawk]

Kagawa, Rodrigo and Ingason were cut from the European list of players reported to UEFA for the Conference League group stage games.

The list:

List A:
Πασχαλάκης, Ζίβκοβιτς, Άκπομ, Μπίσεσβαρ, Κρέσπο, Ελ Καντουρί, Εσίτι , Σίντκλεϊ, Κωνσταντέλιας, Κούρτιτς, Βαρέλα, Λύρατζης, Τέιλορ, Μιχαηλίδης, Μιχάι, Μιτρίτσα, Μουργκ, Σβαμπ, Ντούγκλας, Σφιντέρσκι, Τσιγγάρας, Βιεϊρίνια, Α.Ζίβκοβιτς.

List B:
Αβεντισιάν, Μπαλωμένος, Γαϊτανίδης, Γιαξής, Γρόσδης, Καλουτσικίδης, Κουλιεράκης, Κούτσιας , Παναγιώτου, Τάχατος, Ταλιχμανίδης , Τσαούσης, Τσοπούρογλου

 

[pash]

Kind of surprised Soares was cut. Ingason clearly has had a serious injury (or at least recovery problems) though, which the team doesn't want to admit. I wonder if there are any late-window leagues that are about to snap up Kagawa.

[Blackhawk]

Rodrigo is injured as well and will miss at least the first two European games. Same could be said for El Kaddouri, but he is included.

The possible reason Kagawa was cut was that we can only have 17 "foreign" players on the 'A' list. Not sure who else he could have cut instead of Kagawa. Kagawa was linked to MLS transfer, so that might be in play. Also, we know that Lucescu prefers Biseswar over Kagawa anyway. 

[Athens4]

I noticed that both Benfica and Besiktas are playing in CL group stages this year. Even Sheriff made it. Just us that cannot make the group stages. What a joke.

[Nea Bafra]

5 hours ago, Athens4 said:

I noticed that both Benfica and Besiktas are playing in CL group stages this year. Even Sheriff made it. Just us that cannot make the group stages. What a joke.

There is a difference between us and them. Investment in the squad. Until we get consistent recruiting with a bit of wisdom and some luck we won't be doing anything at home or across the continent.

[Ellada2004]

Good luck PAOK. Get some points for Greece!

[Ellada2004]

6 hours ago, Athens4 said:

I noticed that both Benfica and Besiktas are playing in CL group stages this year. Even Sheriff made it. Just us that cannot make the group stages. What a joke.

Yes and Sheriff won today vs Shaktar

[pash]

Looks like this match day's good results have left Greece in 19th place. We need to break into top 17 for any improvement in slots, which means overtaking Turkey and the Czech Republic (both of whom have three teams left in the competition). That will be hard unless Olympiakos and PAOK go deep into these tournaments.

[BostonThanatos]

Although I hated the concept of the Conference League at first, I think it might actually be a good thing for a lot of the smaller teams in the long run.  Playing with more level competition and earning some extra money and points for their country.  It doesn't have the prestige of Champions League, but it may be a good stepping stone for a lot of teams.

[Blackhawk]

19 hours ago, pash said:

Looks like this match day's good results have left Greece in 19th place. We need to break into top 17 for any improvement in slots, which means overtaking Turkey and the Czech Republic (both of whom have three teams left in the competition). That will be hard unless Olympiakos and PAOK go deep into these tournaments.

I think our real opponents are the Czechs. With Turkey we can gain an advantage if Olympiakos does well against Fenerbahce and Pelkas. In our case we will need to do well against Copenhagen in order for Denmark not to pass us in the rankings.

[Dutch Eagle]

Two matches so far. Every team in ECL GS started with a minimum of 2.500 coefficient points. A win and a draw earned us 3.000 points so our tally for 5 seasons jumps from 14.500 to 15.000. Every draw (1.000 points) or win (2.000 points) is crucial for good/better seeding next year.

We also will receive € 166,000.00 from UEFA after this draw.

[pash]

That pays Lyratzis' salary for the season with 60k to spare ?

[Athens4]

27 minutes ago, pash said:

That pays Lyratzis' salary for the season with 60k to spare ?

The extra 60k goes into the wing back transfer pot.

[pash]

Zeka tore a ligament, he's probably done for the season. I don't know how relevant that will be for our game as I have no idea if he's their starter or what have you, but there you have it.

[paokarag4]

Not only is he a starter but he is their captain, big loss for them and the Ethniki. 

[Blackhawk]

Yeah that's a big loss for Copenhagen and sadly for our NT as well. Let's hope it will make it easier for PAOK in our next two European games. 

The problem is that our game in Copenhagen is sandwiched between our games with the SL leader Volos and the hated rival Olympiakos. We will play 3 tough games in the span of 7 days.

[pash]

There is no player that can help the Greek NT. They're hopeless.

[PAOKSYD]

Volos should be a friendly for us, hoepfully lol

[pash]

Looks like we jumped up one place. The Cypriots had a draw and a loss today, vs Greece's win and loss. Croatia's only team is Dinamo Zagreb, which also lost. They are in a very tough group, with West Ham, Rapid Wien, and Genk (they're in a distant second place right now)

#		country	17/18	18/19	19/20	20/21	21/22	ranking	teams
1		England	20.071	22.642	18.571	24.357	6.714	92.355	7/ 7
2		Spain	19.714	19.571	18.928	19.500	6.285	83.998	7/ 7
3		Italy	17.333	12.642	14.928	16.285	5.714	66.902	7/ 7
4		Germany	9.857	15.214	18.714	15.214	5.928	64.927	7/ 7
5		France	11.500	10.583	11.666	7.916	6.416	48.081	6/ 6
6		Portugal	9.666	10.900	10.300	9.600	5.750	46.216	4/ 6
7		Netherlands	2.900	8.600	9.400	9.200	8.000	38.100	5/ 5
8		Austria	9.750	6.200	5.800	6.700	5.600	34.050	4/ 5
9		Scotland	4.000	6.750	9.750	8.500	3.100	32.100	2/ 5
10		Russia	12.600	7.583	4.666	4.333	2.500	31.682	3/ 5
11		Ukraine	8.000	5.600	7.200	6.800	3.400	31.000	3/ 5
12		Serbia	6.375	6.000	6.000	5.500	5.250	29.125	2/ 4
13		Belgium	2.600	7.800	7.600	6.000	4.600	28.600	4/ 5
14		Switzerland	6.500	3.900	6.400	5.125	5.500	27.425	2/ 4
15		Croatia	5.125	5.750	4.375	5.900	3.750	24.900	1/ 4
16		Greece	5.100	5.100	4.900	5.100	4.500	24.700	2/ 4
17		Cyprus	7.000	6.125	5.125	4.000	2.375	24.625	2/ 4
18		Czech Republic	5.500	6.500	2.500	6.600	3.500	24.600	3/ 5
19		Turkey	6.800	5.500	5.000	3.100	4.100	24.500	3/ 5
20		Norway	4.000	5.375	3.750	6.500	4.125	23.750	1/ 4
21		Israel	5.625	2.625	2.375	7.000	5.500	23.125	2/ 4
22		Denmark	5.250	4.875	5.125	4.125	3.600	22.975	4/ 5
23		Sweden	5.375	4.125	5.750	2.500	4.875	22.625	1/ 4
24		Bulgaria	4.000	4.000	4.125	4.000	3.125	19.250	2/ 4
25		Romania	2.900	2.375	5.875	3.750	1.750	16.650	1/ 4

[Athens4]

How Scotland are in 9th is beyond me.

[Brklyngrk]

We were 19th I thought, behind Turkey/Croatia/Czech.  Either way, we are trending in the right direction.