PAOK Salonika – Destined to be bridesmaids again?
One of Greece’s most unlucky teams may be in a position to turn their fortunes around. 12 times the runners-up in the Greek Cup, as well as finishing second twice in the league, PAOK have only managed to win the league twice (1976 & 1986). Recently though times have been tough with the club even barred from playing in Europe because of financial mismanagement, despite finishing well in the league.
With the monetary issues seemingly resolved the squad assembled has an experienced feel to it with amongst others former Inter and Lazio winger Sergio Conceicao, Greek international Vasilis Lakis, as well as the exciting talent of former Bayern youngster Zlatan Muslimovic. The Bosnian striker has hit 5 goals this season and is the leading scorer for the team.
Home form has unsurprisingly been the bedrock of the success with 5 wins and 3 draws in their 8 games on their own patch. 6 points off pace-setters Olympiacos, the second place would give PAOK the chance to enter the Champions League from the Qualifying Stage for next season. Breaking the dominance of Olympiacos and Panathinaikos has frustrated many sides in Greece including recently AEK Athens, who failed to build on their participation in the Champions League a few seasons ago.
If PAOK can continue with this upward trend then they could be in a position next season to challenge for league honours for the first time since the mid-Eighties.
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