Greek Super League Play-Offs Set To Get Under Way

The official draw has been released for the Greek Super League Play-Offs, a system not uncommon around the continent for deciding European spots but one which this writer finds particularly lethargic and pointless.

Olympiakos will begin the play-offs in first place with four points, PAOK with three, AEK Athens with 1 and Aris with none, each team to play each other twice. The team that finishes top of the table will clinch a potentially lucrative spot in the UEFA Champions League Qualifiers next season with the other three set to parachute into the Europa League.

It represents a potentially tricky situation for Olympiakos, who aside from losing the title to bitter rivals Panathinaikos this year are now also in danger of missing out on a chance to compete in the Champions League. PAOK are logically their main contenders after an impressive season that saw them pipped at the last to second spot while AEK Athens’ form after the New Year could see them emerge as a dark horse for the bright lights of Europe’s premier club competition, though recent in-fighting could again be their Achilles’ heel.

The carrot of the UEFA Champions League group stages should be enough motivation for all four sides though, with the financial perils of AEK an obvious motivation for the cash windfall of an appearance and PAOK’s continued resurrection into a giant of Greek football set to be aided by the prestige of qualification. Aris remain the undoubted outsiders but are entirely capable of producing slick, troubling football for their considerably larger rivals.

Logic would suggest that the home ground advantage of each side – or rather, how they utilize it – will be crucial to the outcome of the mini-league, in which case Olympiakos’ recent defeats to PAOK and AEK Athens stand as a worrying sign ahead of what could be a particularly tight race. In that respect Aris’ traditionally hostile Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium could represent the turning point between the other three teams, where any of the other three teams could concede ground to each other.

In terms of key players, Olympiakos boast World Cup-bound Greek international Vasilis Torosidis, who has emerged as a legitimate match-winner when it comes to derbies and who will certainly edge closer to an inevitable exit from Greece if UEFA Champions League football isn’t secured next season. Hungarian prodigy Krisztian Nemeth remains the X-Factor for AEK with the on-loan Liverpool man having impressed sporadically this season, while PAOK boast classy goal-poacher Zlatan Muslimovic and Aris Argentine revelation Javier Campora, their top scorer this season.

The draw:

Wednesday, April 28

AEK vs PAOK
Aris vs Olympiakos

Sunday, May 2

PAOK vs Aris
Olympiakos vs AEK

Wednesday, May 5

AEK vs Aris
PAOK vs Olympiakos

Sunday, May 9

Aris vs AEK
Olympiakos vs PAOK

Wednesday, May 12

Olympiakos vs Aris
PAOK vs AEK

Sunday, May 16

Aris vs PAOK
AEK vs Olympiakos

Category: Greece Super League News