Greek Super League Preview – Round 25: Saturday Preview

By: Peter Katsiris | March 7th, 2009

Three games in the Greek Super League are the highlight for fans of Greece’s top flight on Saturday. Six sides with a lot to play for occupy the ticket as races in Super League begin to heat up. Greek Cup fortunes came mixed for three of the clubs in action on Saturday, but all three will shift their focus to their respective Super League schedule in order to achieve their goals.

Iraklis FC vs. Panionios FC
Time: 16:45 GR
Referee: Giannis Stavridis (Piraeus)
Venue: Kaftanzogleio Stadium, Thessaloniki
TV: Novasports1

Panionios seems set for another mid-table finish, a worse off ranking than last year’s playoff berth. The ‘Kyanerythri’, however, will look to add three points to their running total when they pay a visit to Iraklis at the Kaftanzogleio Stadium in Thessaloniki.

Having lost a midweek Cup match against Asteras Tripolis, spelling elimination for Panionios, Panagiotis Stamatopoulos’ men could see their Super League winless drought stretch to a fifth game with as ‘keeper Dario Kresic and Alvaro Recoba are among the absentees.

Iraklis has already fallen to Asteras in the Cup, but their round of sixteen exit permitted ‘O Gireos’ to have the week off. Manager Makis Katsavakis will be hoping his side made good use of the times as Iraklis aims to end a three game winless streak, and restore confidence after last week’s 3-0 loss to Levadeiakos. Denis Epstein is the only scratch, but the German’s speed and talent will be dearly missed by the hosts.

Asteras Tripolis FC vs. Aris FC
Time: 16:45 GR
Referee: Ilias Mazarakos (Arta)
Venue: Asteras Tripolis Stadium, Tripoli.
TV: NET

They might have made history in the Greek Cup, but Asteras Tripolis is more than aware their successful Cup run to-date won’t remove them from a tedious relegation battle. The Arcadian club, however, will take confidence of their midweek triumph in Tripoli ahead of their Saturday afternoon clash with Aris.

On the outside looking in, Aris trails Larissa by three points for the last playoff spot. Last year they were a shoe-in for one of the four playoff spots, as was Asteras who narrowly missed out on ecctra football when Panionios squeezed into the final playoff spot. Iomar Mazinho will make his first trip to the Peloponnese, but the Brazilian bench boss will likely be in for a stiff match as Asteras looks to put on another solid performance.

If Aris’ standpoint in the league is shocking, there is a loss of words for the circumstances Asteras Tripolis must overcome. Sitting in twelfth place, Asteras is only four points up on the drop zone and if their two-game winless streak continues, the gap could be reduced to one by the end of the weekend. There are a few fitness doubts for manager Nikos Kostenouglou to adjust too, but it is still unclear if Jaoud Zairi will play against Aris despite being included in the weekend roster.

Panathinaikos FC vs. Larissa FC
Time: 19:00 GR
Referee: Nathaniel Charalambidis (Kavala)
Venue: OAKA Spyros Louis Stadium, Athens.
TV: NET

Saturday’ action ends with a highly anticipated meeting at the OAKA Spyros Louis Stadium in Athens. Panathinaikos are likely distracted by their bid to progress to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, but if Henk Ten Cate’s men are to position themselves in a solid position for the playoffs, the ‘Trifylli’ will need to claim maximum points when Larissa visits the Greek capital.

Villarreal visits Panathinaikos at OAKA on Tuesday, but since Giorgos Karagounis gave Panathinaikos a 1-1 draw at the El Madrigial in Spain nearly a fortnight ago, the Athenians have yet to win a game on the domestic scene. Last weekend the Eternal derby with Olympiacos ended in a scoreless stalemate, but disaster followed on Wednesday with Panserraikos claiming a shock win in Athens to defeat Panathinaikos 3-2 and reach the semi-finals of the Greek Cup. It is expected Ten Cate will rest some of his regulars with the second leg to their tie with Villarreal just around the corner. Health concerns, however, are at a minimum for the ‘Prasini’.

Larissa is not as fortunate when it comes to nagging injuries as Stelios Giannakopoulos, Stelios Venetidis, and Naim Aarab will miss out on the Panathinaikos visit. When both sides met at the Alkazar Stadium back in November, tempers got the better of the players as the affair ended with a 1-1 draw in Larissa. Having lost just once since the prior meeting between these two clubs, Marinos Ouzounidis’ side will be keen to extend their astonishing unbeaten run to fourteen games with a strong showing in Athens.