PAOK v Dinamo Zagreb Preview | Can PAOK Turn It All Around?

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: Konstantinos Koulierakis

CB: Tomasz Kędziora

RB: Jonny Otto

GK: Dominik Kotarski

Yes, I believe Samatta will start upfront tomorrow in the biggest match of our season. Why? Well, Brandon played the majority of the last few matches and was absolutely invisible. I do not think he is worse than Samatta, but we are talking about some of the worst strikers in the history of the sport. Hopefully he is well rested enough to not totally erase our attack tomorrow.

If the team plays like the one I saw last year, and with the quality I know they have in them, they will qualify. Beating this team by two goals in Toumba is more than achievable. The most important thing is not to concede. Of course, we can’t let this sit 1-0, but we can get two goals in 90 minutes, so we don’t have to be all out attacking from the jump. If we can grab a goal in the first half, we are in for a match. Even if we don’t, scoring one before the 80th will give us a real shot, as long as we don’t concede.

We desperately need Despodov to wake up, Konstantelias needs to play like himself, and Samatta has to get out of the way. When you are in Toumba, anything is possible. The qualification is in our hands, we just have to believe it.