Greek Football Season 2024/25
MD 18
Olympiacos - Aris 2-1
Panserraikos - Panathinaikos 2-2
Lamia - Atromitos 0-3
PAOK - Volos 1-2
AEK - Kallithea 2-0
Asteras Tripolis - Panaitolikos 2-0
OFI - Levadiakos 0-0
Standings:
Olympiacos........12-4-2.....40
AEK.................11-4-3.....37
Panathinaikos.....10-6-2.....36
PAOK...............10-3-5......33
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Aris..................8-3-7.....27
Asteras Tripolis....7-4-7......25
OFI..................6-6-6......24
Panaitolikos........6-5-7......23
-----------------------------------------
Atromitos..........6-4-8......22
Volos................6-2-10....20
Levadiakos........3-9-6......18
Panserraikos.......5-3-10....18
Kallithea...........1-9-8......12
Lamia...............1-6-11....9
- In their most dramatic match of the season, Olympiacos beat Aris 2-1 in the 96th minute, with 17 year old forward Kostoulas scoring the winner after having equalized at the start of the 2nd half right after enterig the match. Negative protagonist of the match was the Croatian VAR referee Ivan Bebek who refused to call referee Glenn Nyberg on multiple occasions, including 2 potential penalties, an offensive foul in the buildup of 0-1 and only with a great delay called him to cancel an Olympiacos goal (clear offensive foul). Apart from that, Olympiacos filed a wrong starting 11 and allowed Aris to score with Moron but the talent and prowess of Kostoulas gave the red and whites their 1st win in a match they are trailing and 1st win in added time.
- Panathinaikos unexpectedly dropped 2 points in the mud pool of Serres, despite leading 0-2 early in the 2nd half. Joint top scorer of the league Betancor put Panserraikos back in the match and then the greens GK Dragowski for no reason at all put his head against Betancor's in the box, the Spanish CF theatrically fell to the ground, penalty and red card, 2-2. Panathinaikos is hysterically blaming the referee and not their GK for answering physically to verbal provocations and suddenly their derby against AEK is crucial.
- PAOK might be 1 week away from being knocked out of his title defense campaign. Another shocker at home, a defeat from Volos who had lost all their matches against the big 4, with 2 goals in added time! PAOK's defense is simply lacking talent, and they pay for it dearly. 7 points from the top and having to face Aris away next week, if the gap widens on Sunday, it's over for PAOK.
- AEK climbed 2nd after defeating Kallithea, and are the only team within a win from Olympiacos now, and are heading to face Panathinaikos next week hoping to stay close to the top.
- Asteras got a 3rd win in a row while Panaitolikos is expectedly falling back after their surprising start, Lamia is already a 2nd division team (everyone apart from AEK are happy to see them go down), while OFI and Levadiakos shared a point.
Olympiacos - Aris 2-1
Panserraikos - Panathinaikos 2-2
Lamia - Atromitos 0-3
PAOK - Volos 1-2
AEK - Kallithea 2-0
Asteras Tripolis - Panaitolikos 2-0
OFI - Levadiakos 0-0
Standings:
Olympiacos........12-4-2.....40
AEK.................11-4-3.....37
Panathinaikos.....10-6-2.....36
PAOK...............10-3-5......33
-----------------------------------------
Aris..................8-3-7.....27
Asteras Tripolis....7-4-7......25
OFI..................6-6-6......24
Panaitolikos........6-5-7......23
-----------------------------------------
Atromitos..........6-4-8......22
Volos................6-2-10....20
Levadiakos........3-9-6......18
Panserraikos.......5-3-10....18
Kallithea...........1-9-8......12
Lamia...............1-6-11....9
- In their most dramatic match of the season, Olympiacos beat Aris 2-1 in the 96th minute, with 17 year old forward Kostoulas scoring the winner after having equalized at the start of the 2nd half right after enterig the match. Negative protagonist of the match was the Croatian VAR referee Ivan Bebek who refused to call referee Glenn Nyberg on multiple occasions, including 2 potential penalties, an offensive foul in the buildup of 0-1 and only with a great delay called him to cancel an Olympiacos goal (clear offensive foul). Apart from that, Olympiacos filed a wrong starting 11 and allowed Aris to score with Moron but the talent and prowess of Kostoulas gave the red and whites their 1st win in a match they are trailing and 1st win in added time.
- Panathinaikos unexpectedly dropped 2 points in the mud pool of Serres, despite leading 0-2 early in the 2nd half. Joint top scorer of the league Betancor put Panserraikos back in the match and then the greens GK Dragowski for no reason at all put his head against Betancor's in the box, the Spanish CF theatrically fell to the ground, penalty and red card, 2-2. Panathinaikos is hysterically blaming the referee and not their GK for answering physically to verbal provocations and suddenly their derby against AEK is crucial.
- PAOK might be 1 week away from being knocked out of his title defense campaign. Another shocker at home, a defeat from Volos who had lost all their matches against the big 4, with 2 goals in added time! PAOK's defense is simply lacking talent, and they pay for it dearly. 7 points from the top and having to face Aris away next week, if the gap widens on Sunday, it's over for PAOK.
- AEK climbed 2nd after defeating Kallithea, and are the only team within a win from Olympiacos now, and are heading to face Panathinaikos next week hoping to stay close to the top.
- Asteras got a 3rd win in a row while Panaitolikos is expectedly falling back after their surprising start, Lamia is already a 2nd division team (everyone apart from AEK are happy to see them go down), while OFI and Levadiakos shared a point.
Greek Cup QF, 1st leg:
Panathinaikos - Olympiacos 1-1
Greek Cup SF
Asteras Tripolis vs OFI
AEK vs Panathinaikos/Olympiacos
2/2 draws in the derbies of the eternal enemies this season, both with Panathinaikos playing at home. In a match with a lot of physical duels, tackles and Szymon Marciniak refusing to give yellow cards, a grave individual error of Olympiacos 2nd GK Paschalakis gave the greens the lead with Djuricic and Yaremchuk's first sign of life after months was the equalizer for Olympiacos.
Panathinaikos - Olympiacos 1-1
Greek Cup SF
Asteras Tripolis vs OFI
AEK vs Panathinaikos/Olympiacos
2/2 draws in the derbies of the eternal enemies this season, both with Panathinaikos playing at home. In a match with a lot of physical duels, tackles and Szymon Marciniak refusing to give yellow cards, a grave individual error of Olympiacos 2nd GK Paschalakis gave the greens the lead with Djuricic and Yaremchuk's first sign of life after months was the equalizer for Olympiacos.
MD 19
Kallithea - Volos 2-0
Atromitos - Olympiacos 1-2
Panaitolikos - OFI 1-0
Levadiakos - Asteras Tripolis 1-2
Aris - PAOK 0-0
Panathinaikos - AEK 1-0
Panserraikos - Lamia 2-0
Standings:
Olympiacos........13-4-2.....43
Panathinaikos.....11-6-2.....39
AEK.................11-4-4.....37
PAOK...............10-4-5......34
-----------------------------------------
Asteras Tripolis....8-4-7......28
Aris..................8-4-7.....28
Panaitolikos........7-5-7......26
OFI..................6-6-7......24
-----------------------------------------
Atromitos..........6-4-9......22
Panserraikos.......6-3-10....21
Volos................6-2-11....20
Levadiakos........3-9-7......18
Kallithea...........2-9-8......15
Lamia...............1-6-12....9
- PAOK is out of the title race! The reigning champions failed to win again in a derby (0/8) and the 0-0 draw against their city rivals ends their title defense campaign - nobody can overturn a 9 points gap from Olympiacos. Aris is also unhappy with the draw which keeps them 6 points behind 4th and make their top 4 goal almost unreachable.
- Panathinaikos with their favourite 1-0 and defensive football beat AEK and overtook them. The Greens benefited from a clear penalty of their GK Dragowski on Vida not being given by referee Espen Eskas, and scored with a penalty of themselves, parking the bus afterwards. 8th 1-0 win and 10th (out of 11) 1-goal win for the Greens, who head to the derby of the eternal enemies needing a win. AEK is in a very difficult position, and as the cherry on top, coach Almeyda hinted he is resigning in the post-match press conference.
- Olympiacos is running ahead and widening their lead after another dramatic win. The red-and-whites were better than Atromitos, scored 2 goals in the first 25th minutes, but Atromitos answered with an own goal from a corner (which probably shouldn't have counted due to an offensive foul). Olympiacos wasted a lot of chances to put the match to bed in the 2nd half, and Atromitos almost shocked them in the 96th minute - they got a penalty. But Tzolakis who is becoming a penalty specialist (saved 3 against Fenerbahce and 1 against Twente) saved it and Oympiacos have the chance to put one hand on the trophy next week.
- Asteras with their 4th win are close to the 5-8 play offs and are even having a faint hope for 4th. Kallithea is still alive and the relegation battle remains tense.
With Almeyda's apparent resignation, 9/14 clubs have now changed coach and we have 11 coach changes after 19 matches. The teams continuing with the coach they started the season are Olympiacos, PAOK, Panaitolikos, Atromitos and Levadiakos.
Kallithea - Volos 2-0
Atromitos - Olympiacos 1-2
Panaitolikos - OFI 1-0
Levadiakos - Asteras Tripolis 1-2
Aris - PAOK 0-0
Panathinaikos - AEK 1-0
Panserraikos - Lamia 2-0
Standings:
Olympiacos........13-4-2.....43
Panathinaikos.....11-6-2.....39
AEK.................11-4-4.....37
PAOK...............10-4-5......34
-----------------------------------------
Asteras Tripolis....8-4-7......28
Aris..................8-4-7.....28
Panaitolikos........7-5-7......26
OFI..................6-6-7......24
-----------------------------------------
Atromitos..........6-4-9......22
Panserraikos.......6-3-10....21
Volos................6-2-11....20
Levadiakos........3-9-7......18
Kallithea...........2-9-8......15
Lamia...............1-6-12....9
- PAOK is out of the title race! The reigning champions failed to win again in a derby (0/8) and the 0-0 draw against their city rivals ends their title defense campaign - nobody can overturn a 9 points gap from Olympiacos. Aris is also unhappy with the draw which keeps them 6 points behind 4th and make their top 4 goal almost unreachable.
- Panathinaikos with their favourite 1-0 and defensive football beat AEK and overtook them. The Greens benefited from a clear penalty of their GK Dragowski on Vida not being given by referee Espen Eskas, and scored with a penalty of themselves, parking the bus afterwards. 8th 1-0 win and 10th (out of 11) 1-goal win for the Greens, who head to the derby of the eternal enemies needing a win. AEK is in a very difficult position, and as the cherry on top, coach Almeyda hinted he is resigning in the post-match press conference.
- Olympiacos is running ahead and widening their lead after another dramatic win. The red-and-whites were better than Atromitos, scored 2 goals in the first 25th minutes, but Atromitos answered with an own goal from a corner (which probably shouldn't have counted due to an offensive foul). Olympiacos wasted a lot of chances to put the match to bed in the 2nd half, and Atromitos almost shocked them in the 96th minute - they got a penalty. But Tzolakis who is becoming a penalty specialist (saved 3 against Fenerbahce and 1 against Twente) saved it and Oympiacos have the chance to put one hand on the trophy next week.
- Asteras with their 4th win are close to the 5-8 play offs and are even having a faint hope for 4th. Kallithea is still alive and the relegation battle remains tense.
With Almeyda's apparent resignation, 9/14 clubs have now changed coach and we have 11 coach changes after 19 matches. The teams continuing with the coach they started the season are Olympiacos, PAOK, Panaitolikos, Atromitos and Levadiakos.
- NederPAOKtzis
- Posts: 672
- Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2017 20:34
- Location: The Netherlands
Almeyda met chairman Iliopoulos today and he stays at the helm. It was said that the chairman forced Almeyda to play some players against PAOK who were not in his line-up due to rotation. Iliopoulos wanted the best squad to play as he was attending the game at Toumba after all that happened after the first leg of the quarter final in the cup.Firnen wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2025 22:19 MD 19
With Almeyda's apparent resignation, 9/14 clubs have now changed coach and we have 11 coach changes after 19 matches. The teams continuing with the coach they started the season are Olympiacos, PAOK, Panaitolikos, Atromitos and Levadiakos.
Lamia sacked another coach: Vokolos is out as Lamia lost again. They are dead last after being the best of the non top 5 teams in the 2023/2024 season.
PAOK is not a club. PAOK is a cultural phenomenon.
Almeyda won't survive long imo, these theatrics are usually a sign that something is going really wrong between owner and coach.NederPAOKtzis wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 16:59Almeyda met chairman Iliopoulos today and he stays at the helm. It was said that the chairman forced Almeyda to play some players against PAOK who were not in his line-up due to rotation. Iliopoulos wanted the best squad to play as he was attending the game at Toumba after all that happened after the first leg of the quarter final in the cup.Firnen wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2025 22:19 MD 19
With Almeyda's apparent resignation, 9/14 clubs have now changed coach and we have 11 coach changes after 19 matches. The teams continuing with the coach they started the season are Olympiacos, PAOK, Panaitolikos, Atromitos and Levadiakos.
Lamia sacked another coach: Vokolos is out as Lamia lost again. They are dead last after being the best of the non top 5 teams in the 2023/2024 season.
With Vokolos gone, the number of coach changes is 11 (8/14 clubs) with Lamia joining Volos and Asteras in the list of clubs with 3 coaches this season.
These shenanigans are bread and butter in the Argentinian league. Almeyda must feel at home there.Firnen wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 20:22Almeyda won't survive long imo, these theatrics are usually a sign that something is going really wrong between owner and coach.NederPAOKtzis wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 16:59Almeyda met chairman Iliopoulos today and he stays at the helm. It was said that the chairman forced Almeyda to play some players against PAOK who were not in his line-up due to rotation. Iliopoulos wanted the best squad to play as he was attending the game at Toumba after all that happened after the first leg of the quarter final in the cup.Firnen wrote: Sun Jan 19, 2025 22:19 MD 19
With Almeyda's apparent resignation, 9/14 clubs have now changed coach and we have 11 coach changes after 19 matches. The teams continuing with the coach they started the season are Olympiacos, PAOK, Panaitolikos, Atromitos and Levadiakos.
Lamia sacked another coach: Vokolos is out as Lamia lost again. They are dead last after being the best of the non top 5 teams in the 2023/2024 season.
With Vokolos gone, the number of coach changes is 11 (8/14 clubs) with Lamia joining Volos and Asteras in the list of clubs with 3 coaches this season.
MD 20
Volos - Atromitos 0-1
Asteras Tripolis - Kallithea 1-0
OFI - Panserraikos 3-2
AEK - Panaitolikos 1-0
Lamia - Aris 0-2
PAOK - Levadiakos 1-0
Olympiacos - Panathinaikos 1-1
Standings:
Olympiacos........13-5-2.....44
AEK.................12-4-4.....40
Panathinaikos.....11-7-2.....40
PAOK...............11-4-5......37
-----------------------------------------
Asteras Tripolis....9-4-7......31
Aris..................9-4-7.....31
OFI..................7-6-7......27
Panaitolikos........7-5-8......26
-----------------------------------------
Atromitos..........7-4-9......25
Panserraikos.......6-3-11....21
Volos................6-2-12....20
Levadiakos........3-9-8......18
Kallithea...........2-9-9......15
Lamia...............1-6-13....9
- Slavko Vincic and his VAR referee decided not to end the title fight from January and kept Panathinaikos (and coincidentally AEK too) alive. The Slovenian referee in quick succession refused to review a potential penalty for Olympiacos and then gave a harsh red card after minimum contact after a VAR review to Costinha. The antitouristic and dull Panathinaikos managed to steal a point this way from the penalty spot in the 2nd half, equalizing the header of Carmo from early in the 1st half.
- AEK beat Panaitolikos at home, PAOK avoided yet another home blunder thanks to the usual late Mady Camara goal, Aris and Asteras keep their little hopes for 4th with wins (5th in a row for Asteras), while Atromitos and OFI with wins show that the will fight with Panaitolikos for the last spots of the 5-8 group.
Volos - Atromitos 0-1
Asteras Tripolis - Kallithea 1-0
OFI - Panserraikos 3-2
AEK - Panaitolikos 1-0
Lamia - Aris 0-2
PAOK - Levadiakos 1-0
Olympiacos - Panathinaikos 1-1
Standings:
Olympiacos........13-5-2.....44
AEK.................12-4-4.....40
Panathinaikos.....11-7-2.....40
PAOK...............11-4-5......37
-----------------------------------------
Asteras Tripolis....9-4-7......31
Aris..................9-4-7.....31
OFI..................7-6-7......27
Panaitolikos........7-5-8......26
-----------------------------------------
Atromitos..........7-4-9......25
Panserraikos.......6-3-11....21
Volos................6-2-12....20
Levadiakos........3-9-8......18
Kallithea...........2-9-9......15
Lamia...............1-6-13....9
- Slavko Vincic and his VAR referee decided not to end the title fight from January and kept Panathinaikos (and coincidentally AEK too) alive. The Slovenian referee in quick succession refused to review a potential penalty for Olympiacos and then gave a harsh red card after minimum contact after a VAR review to Costinha. The antitouristic and dull Panathinaikos managed to steal a point this way from the penalty spot in the 2nd half, equalizing the header of Carmo from early in the 1st half.
- AEK beat Panaitolikos at home, PAOK avoided yet another home blunder thanks to the usual late Mady Camara goal, Aris and Asteras keep their little hopes for 4th with wins (5th in a row for Asteras), while Atromitos and OFI with wins show that the will fight with Panaitolikos for the last spots of the 5-8 group.
Another positive season for Asteras Tripolis! They are on fifth position in the league and in the SFs of the Cup. Their best ever seasons have been 2012-15, when they finished up to third position in the league and reached the Cup final.
Their B team is not doing as well in the second division though…
Their B team is not doing as well in the second division though…
MD 21
Panathinaikos - OFI 3-2
Panserraikos - Volos 1-1
Levadiakos - Olympiacos 0-1
Kallithea - Aris 0-1
PAOK - AEK 1-2
Panaitolikos - Atromitos 0-1
Asteras Tripolis - Lamia 1-0
Standings:
Olympiacos........14-5-2.....47
AEK.................13-4-4.....43
Panathinaikos.....12-7-2.....43
PAOK...............11-4-6......37
-----------------------------------------
Asteras Tripolis...10-4-7......34
Aris.................10-4-7.....34
Atromitos..........8-4-9......28
OFI..................7-6-8......27
-----------------------------------------
Panaitolikos........7-5-9......26
Panserraikos.......6-4-11....22
Volos................6-3-12....21
Levadiakos........3-9-9......18
Kallithea...........2-9-10....15
Lamia...............1-6-14....9
- Olympiacos came face to face with a suicidal draw in Livadia, after a match where they missed an open goal, hit the post and crossbar within 3 minutes and were facing Levadiakos' parked bus for 85 minutes, until youngster Mouzakitis scored his 1st goal at men's level with a shot outside the box and gave the win to the leaders. The Youth League protagonists, Mouzakitis and Kostoulas, alongside young GK Tzolakis have been the X Factor of Olympiacos this season, hiding a lot of the fiasco-transfers of the summer.
- Panathinaikos in a crazy match came back from the dead (0-2) to beat OFI (3-2) at home and stay alive in the title fight. In a match which was the opposite of the usually tidy defensive and struggling in front of the goal greens, their defense was twice ripped apart by OFI's counter attacks in the 1st half but they hammered the Cretan team and won the match.
- AEK left Thessaloniki with a win in the double-headed eagles derby and kept their title hopes intact. Lamela scored a Puskas contender, PAOK reacted in the 2nd half but in a characterestic chance of PAOK's woes, the walking meme Samatta missed a chance to equalize in added time. PAOK is in danger for 4th now which could be catastrophic. Really bad refereeing from Zwayer, the worse we have seen from an elite referee in the Super League so far, with 2 major mistakes against AEK (a penalty and a red card not given).
- Asteras makes it 6 wins in a row and Aris is also sticking with them, with the fight for 4th heating up!
Panathinaikos - OFI 3-2
Panserraikos - Volos 1-1
Levadiakos - Olympiacos 0-1
Kallithea - Aris 0-1
PAOK - AEK 1-2
Panaitolikos - Atromitos 0-1
Asteras Tripolis - Lamia 1-0
Standings:
Olympiacos........14-5-2.....47
AEK.................13-4-4.....43
Panathinaikos.....12-7-2.....43
PAOK...............11-4-6......37
-----------------------------------------
Asteras Tripolis...10-4-7......34
Aris.................10-4-7.....34
Atromitos..........8-4-9......28
OFI..................7-6-8......27
-----------------------------------------
Panaitolikos........7-5-9......26
Panserraikos.......6-4-11....22
Volos................6-3-12....21
Levadiakos........3-9-9......18
Kallithea...........2-9-10....15
Lamia...............1-6-14....9
- Olympiacos came face to face with a suicidal draw in Livadia, after a match where they missed an open goal, hit the post and crossbar within 3 minutes and were facing Levadiakos' parked bus for 85 minutes, until youngster Mouzakitis scored his 1st goal at men's level with a shot outside the box and gave the win to the leaders. The Youth League protagonists, Mouzakitis and Kostoulas, alongside young GK Tzolakis have been the X Factor of Olympiacos this season, hiding a lot of the fiasco-transfers of the summer.
- Panathinaikos in a crazy match came back from the dead (0-2) to beat OFI (3-2) at home and stay alive in the title fight. In a match which was the opposite of the usually tidy defensive and struggling in front of the goal greens, their defense was twice ripped apart by OFI's counter attacks in the 1st half but they hammered the Cretan team and won the match.
- AEK left Thessaloniki with a win in the double-headed eagles derby and kept their title hopes intact. Lamela scored a Puskas contender, PAOK reacted in the 2nd half but in a characterestic chance of PAOK's woes, the walking meme Samatta missed a chance to equalize in added time. PAOK is in danger for 4th now which could be catastrophic. Really bad refereeing from Zwayer, the worse we have seen from an elite referee in the Super League so far, with 2 major mistakes against AEK (a penalty and a red card not given).
- Asteras makes it 6 wins in a row and Aris is also sticking with them, with the fight for 4th heating up!
Winter Transfers
Olympiacos was as usually busy: Andre Horta returned to the club after 6 months (on loan from Braga again, with an option to buy), Bruno Onyemaechi from Boavista came to cover the substitute LB position, and Luis Palma (on loan from Celtic) to strengthen the problematic position of winger. The red-and-whites also bought the league's leading scorer Jefte Betancor from Panserraikos but left him on loan to the Serres club until the summer.
Willian was released after showing he is completely washed - oddly Fulham signed him back. LB Apostolopoulos was released and will continue at Panaitolikos, same with RB Androutsos who will continue at OFI. Youngsters Ntoi and Bakoulas were loaned to Olympiacos-owned Rio Ave, and Koutsidis to Volos (where he joins another Olympiacos young CB on loan, Kalogeropoulos). Finally Masouras was (finally) loaned out, to Bochum after a sharp decline for the last 1.5 year. There are efforts to offload Sergio Oliveira to Brazil or USA as well.
AEK brought in nobody. Zero transfers, to the dismay of their fans, not even a LB where mediocre veteran Hajisafi is somehow the starter, or a substitute CB - they only have 3! On the other side, Zuber, Galanopoulos and Amrabat were released (all 3 of them bench options) - but the big news is that starting CF Livai Garcia is sold for an exorbitant price (around 20M) to Spartak Moscow.
Panathinaikos brought in Karol Swiderski to strenghen the CF position, and DM Manolis Siopis as well. Verbic, Kleinheisler and Trouillet were released - none of them part of the rotation.
PAOK, like Olympiacos, were quite active, but it's too late for their title hopes. Nevertheless, in come CM Sergio Pena from Malmo, CB Wieteska on loan from Cagliari (PAOK really needed a player in this position), AM Pelkas returns from Turkey, and DM Meite also returns after 6 months (on loan from Benfica).
Murg and Tissoudali will continue in UAE and Saudi Arabia (Tissoudali was a big flop), but the big news is the sale of young CF Tzimas to Brighton. PAOK gets 18M + some bonuses (between 2-4M) and Nurenmberg (he was on loan there) gets around 7M. Biggest sale in PAOK's history, and quite baffling that Tzimas wasn't given the chance to be in the squad, especially given the laughable level of ALL of PAOK's CF, who either can't consistently score or are walking memes like Samatta.
Aris got LB Mendyl from Leuven, RW Dudu from CSKA Sofia, LB Kerkez from Partizan and LW Spikic from Dinamo Zagren. But they lost Manu Garcia and Suleymanov to Kansas City, in a combined sale of 6M.
Olympiacos was as usually busy: Andre Horta returned to the club after 6 months (on loan from Braga again, with an option to buy), Bruno Onyemaechi from Boavista came to cover the substitute LB position, and Luis Palma (on loan from Celtic) to strengthen the problematic position of winger. The red-and-whites also bought the league's leading scorer Jefte Betancor from Panserraikos but left him on loan to the Serres club until the summer.
Willian was released after showing he is completely washed - oddly Fulham signed him back. LB Apostolopoulos was released and will continue at Panaitolikos, same with RB Androutsos who will continue at OFI. Youngsters Ntoi and Bakoulas were loaned to Olympiacos-owned Rio Ave, and Koutsidis to Volos (where he joins another Olympiacos young CB on loan, Kalogeropoulos). Finally Masouras was (finally) loaned out, to Bochum after a sharp decline for the last 1.5 year. There are efforts to offload Sergio Oliveira to Brazil or USA as well.
AEK brought in nobody. Zero transfers, to the dismay of their fans, not even a LB where mediocre veteran Hajisafi is somehow the starter, or a substitute CB - they only have 3! On the other side, Zuber, Galanopoulos and Amrabat were released (all 3 of them bench options) - but the big news is that starting CF Livai Garcia is sold for an exorbitant price (around 20M) to Spartak Moscow.
Panathinaikos brought in Karol Swiderski to strenghen the CF position, and DM Manolis Siopis as well. Verbic, Kleinheisler and Trouillet were released - none of them part of the rotation.
PAOK, like Olympiacos, were quite active, but it's too late for their title hopes. Nevertheless, in come CM Sergio Pena from Malmo, CB Wieteska on loan from Cagliari (PAOK really needed a player in this position), AM Pelkas returns from Turkey, and DM Meite also returns after 6 months (on loan from Benfica).
Murg and Tissoudali will continue in UAE and Saudi Arabia (Tissoudali was a big flop), but the big news is the sale of young CF Tzimas to Brighton. PAOK gets 18M + some bonuses (between 2-4M) and Nurenmberg (he was on loan there) gets around 7M. Biggest sale in PAOK's history, and quite baffling that Tzimas wasn't given the chance to be in the squad, especially given the laughable level of ALL of PAOK's CF, who either can't consistently score or are walking memes like Samatta.
Aris got LB Mendyl from Leuven, RW Dudu from CSKA Sofia, LB Kerkez from Partizan and LW Spikic from Dinamo Zagren. But they lost Manu Garcia and Suleymanov to Kansas City, in a combined sale of 6M.
Greek Cup QF, 2st leg:
Olympiacos - Panathinaikos 1-0 (1-1)
Greek Cup SF
Asteras Tripolis vs OFI
AEK vs Olympiacos
Olympiacos finally broke Panathinaikos' undefeated (and quite lucky) streak in derbies of the eternal enemies and advanced to the Semi-Finals. Panathinaikos came to Karaiskakis Stadium to park the bus, and that's what they did, and it almost worked again - Olympiacos missed its chances, El Kaabi missed a penalty in the 92nd minute and Panathinaikos could have completed the perfect smash and grab in their sole chance in the 93rd minute. This didn't happen and 18 years old Mouzakitis scored a stunner 1 minute later, to finally punish Panathinaikos' Getafe-style football.
AEK and Olympiacos will now clash twice (both in AEK's stadium) in 4 days at 26/2 and 2/3 for Cup and Super League. The return legs of the Cup are scheduled for early April.
Olympiacos - Panathinaikos 1-0 (1-1)
Greek Cup SF
Asteras Tripolis vs OFI
AEK vs Olympiacos
Olympiacos finally broke Panathinaikos' undefeated (and quite lucky) streak in derbies of the eternal enemies and advanced to the Semi-Finals. Panathinaikos came to Karaiskakis Stadium to park the bus, and that's what they did, and it almost worked again - Olympiacos missed its chances, El Kaabi missed a penalty in the 92nd minute and Panathinaikos could have completed the perfect smash and grab in their sole chance in the 93rd minute. This didn't happen and 18 years old Mouzakitis scored a stunner 1 minute later, to finally punish Panathinaikos' Getafe-style football.
AEK and Olympiacos will now clash twice (both in AEK's stadium) in 4 days at 26/2 and 2/3 for Cup and Super League. The return legs of the Cup are scheduled for early April.
MD 22
OFI - PAOK 0-5
Volos - Panaitolikos 0-1
Olympiacos - Asteras Tripolis 1-1
Aris - Panathinaikos 2-0
AEK - Panserraikos 5-0
Atromitos - Kallithea 1-2
Lamia - Levadiakos 0-2
Standings:
Olympiacos........14-6-2.....48
AEK.................14-4-4.....46
Panathinaikos.....12-7-3.....43
PAOK...............12-4-6......40
-----------------------------------------
Aris.................11-4-7.....37
Asteras Tripolis...10-5-7......35
Panaitolikos........8-5-9......29
Atromitos..........8-4-10.....28
-----------------------------------------
OFI..................7-6-9......27
Panserraikos.......6-4-12....22
Levadiakos........4-9-9......21
Volos................6-3-13....21
Kallithea...........3-9-10....18
Lamia...............1-6-15....9
- Asteras Tripolis managed to take points from Olympiacos for the 2nd time this season. The out-of-energy leaders found themselves trailing in the 4th minute after a neat Asteras counter-attack, and despite equalizing 7 minutes later, wasted all the chances the created against the ultra-defensive formation of Asteras and failed to get the win. A wasted opportunity to knock Panathinaikos out of the title fight and retain the 1 win gap from AEK.
- Panathinaikos lost to Aris, in a match where the home team was better and held their lead quite comfortably in the 2nd half. Aris remains chasing PAOK for the last play-off spot, while the greens lost ground in the title fight, in which they were either way the outsider.
- AEK had no problems against the worst defense of the league, while PAOK had an impressive away win with the same score (5-0) against OFI. PAOK had initally requested to postpone this match because a judge punished 3 of their players (also an injured one and one who has left and coach Lucescu who was already banned from the match) for the same incident for which PAOK was already investigated and punished before (!) - the attack of their players and Lucescu against AEK fans who were insulting them when PAOK's bus was leaving AEK's stadium after the Cup match. All the other teams of the league agreed to postpone...except AEK, who knowing they would be outvoted, decided to be pety and refuse to answer, thus not allowing quorum. PAOK won easily after all, but you bet their rivarly against AEK just got even more heated.
- Huge win for Kallithea away against Atromitos keeping them alive in the battle for survival. Kallithea got a 2 goal lead in the 1st half with 1 goal and 1 assist from 40-year old Valbuena, and had their 2nd GK Gelios as the hero saving a penalty from Warda which would have equalized the match near the end. Levadiakos did their job against Lamia, and combined with Volos' loss to Panaitolikos, the relegation battle is again a 4-way fight. The play-outs have 10 matches (not 6) so there's a lot remaining here.
OFI - PAOK 0-5
Volos - Panaitolikos 0-1
Olympiacos - Asteras Tripolis 1-1
Aris - Panathinaikos 2-0
AEK - Panserraikos 5-0
Atromitos - Kallithea 1-2
Lamia - Levadiakos 0-2
Standings:
Olympiacos........14-6-2.....48
AEK.................14-4-4.....46
Panathinaikos.....12-7-3.....43
PAOK...............12-4-6......40
-----------------------------------------
Aris.................11-4-7.....37
Asteras Tripolis...10-5-7......35
Panaitolikos........8-5-9......29
Atromitos..........8-4-10.....28
-----------------------------------------
OFI..................7-6-9......27
Panserraikos.......6-4-12....22
Levadiakos........4-9-9......21
Volos................6-3-13....21
Kallithea...........3-9-10....18
Lamia...............1-6-15....9
- Asteras Tripolis managed to take points from Olympiacos for the 2nd time this season. The out-of-energy leaders found themselves trailing in the 4th minute after a neat Asteras counter-attack, and despite equalizing 7 minutes later, wasted all the chances the created against the ultra-defensive formation of Asteras and failed to get the win. A wasted opportunity to knock Panathinaikos out of the title fight and retain the 1 win gap from AEK.
- Panathinaikos lost to Aris, in a match where the home team was better and held their lead quite comfortably in the 2nd half. Aris remains chasing PAOK for the last play-off spot, while the greens lost ground in the title fight, in which they were either way the outsider.
- AEK had no problems against the worst defense of the league, while PAOK had an impressive away win with the same score (5-0) against OFI. PAOK had initally requested to postpone this match because a judge punished 3 of their players (also an injured one and one who has left and coach Lucescu who was already banned from the match) for the same incident for which PAOK was already investigated and punished before (!) - the attack of their players and Lucescu against AEK fans who were insulting them when PAOK's bus was leaving AEK's stadium after the Cup match. All the other teams of the league agreed to postpone...except AEK, who knowing they would be outvoted, decided to be pety and refuse to answer, thus not allowing quorum. PAOK won easily after all, but you bet their rivarly against AEK just got even more heated.
- Huge win for Kallithea away against Atromitos keeping them alive in the battle for survival. Kallithea got a 2 goal lead in the 1st half with 1 goal and 1 assist from 40-year old Valbuena, and had their 2nd GK Gelios as the hero saving a penalty from Warda which would have equalized the match near the end. Levadiakos did their job against Lamia, and combined with Volos' loss to Panaitolikos, the relegation battle is again a 4-way fight. The play-outs have 10 matches (not 6) so there's a lot remaining here.