PAOK IN AMERICA

I do not want tomorrow to be the end of PAOK’s European run. After cruising through three rounds of qualifying, after picking up 16 out of 18 possible points in group G, after beating Eintracht Frankfurt outright home and away, I do not want to go home in the Round of 16.  One thing has become clear, PAOK is not the same team that they were a few months ago. Something has happened to the team, and I am not sure where to put the blame. There is clearly a lot of talent there, as many of us truly believed we would win the league, the cup, and go on a deep run in Europe. They have drastically underperformed in 2024, but I am hoping it can somehow still be turned around. And it has to be tomorrow. PAOK just released their final squad for the match, and just by looking at it I can make an assumption that we will see a starting 11 that looks like this: ST: Mbwana Samatta LW: Taison CAM: Giannis Konstantelias RW: Kyrill Despodov CDM: Soualiho Meite CDM: Magomed Ozdoyev LB: Baba Rahman CB: ...

What looked like an endless stalemate turned out to be a fantastic night for PAOK. After a few weeks of rotating starting lineups, Lucescu sent out a very strong 11 players tonight, minus Samatta. Here is what that looked like: ST: Mbwana Samatta LW: Taison CAM: Giannis Konstantelias RW: Andrija Zivkovic CDM: Meite CDM: Magomed Ozdoyev LB: Baba Rahman CB: Konstantinos Koulierakis CB: Tomasz Kędziora RB: Jonny Otto GK: Dominik Kotarski PAOK had almost all of the chances in the first half, barring a few Lamia counterattacks that were always unlikely to succeed, but the moment of the first half came in the 24’ minute. Baba Rahman, who had an excellent match, played a one-two with Konstantelias, which freed Rahman to put a ball in the six yard box. Rahman squared in Samatta better than anyone has ever been squared in their lives. Samatta, who was about two meters from the wide open net, directly in the center of the goal, hit the ball sideways, which eventually tumbled back in the arms of ...