Who are Bohemians' Europa Conference League third round opponents PAOK?

PAOK's stadium

PAOK's stadium Credit: Macdara Ferris (ETPhotos)

Bohemians have been on a fantastic run in Europe so far this year. Last week's win over Dudelange meant that tonight they take the next step on their journey as they face Greek outfit PAOK at the Aviva Stadium. Here we take a deeper look at their opponents.

Who are PAOK?

They are based in the Thessaloniki area, and play in the Greek Superleague and are regarded as one of the most popular teams in Northern Greece. They have been title winners on three occasions- most recently in 2018/19 while they are the current Greek Cup holders (their 8th victory in the competition). They currently play in the Toumba Stadium which holds almost 30,000 spectators. Their current manager is Razvan Lucescu who is in his second term in charge of the club having won the Greek league and cup double in 2018/19 in his previous spell. The Romanian boasts an impressive managerial record, however he is not the most successful manager in his family as his father is the legendary Mircea Lucescu- the man who was responsible for Shaktar Donetsk's success in Europe, and was also in charge of Zenit St Petersburg when they faced Dundalk in 2016 as well as being the second most successful European manager of all time with 37 titles.

What European pedigree do they have?

PAOK have played in Europe almost 50 times, with this being their first ever game in the European Conference League. They reached the quarter final stage of the 1973-74 Cup Winners' Cup and have appeared in the Europa League Group Stages eight times. League of Ireland fans may remember them as being in Shamrock Rovers' Group in 2011, alongside Rubin Kazan and Tottenham Hotspur. For the record, they beat Rovers 2-1 in Greece and 3-1 in Tallaght Stadium. The Greek side are currently ranked at 104 in the UEFA standings with Bohemians at 380.

Who to watch out for?

Portuguese right sided player and Euro 2016 winner Vieirinha scored against Shamrock Rovers a decade ago and, after a few years in Germany, with Wolfsburg, is currently the club captain. Andrija Zivkovic is another danger around the box, the former Serbian Under 20 World Cup winner providing a plethora of assists since joining the club from Benfica in autumn 2020.

Another Portuguese player with an eye for goal is striker Nelson Oliviera- the tall frontman spent three periods on loan in English football with spells at Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Reading while also spending two seasons at Norwich City in between the loans. He joined PAOK in July.

Another 2021 recruit is former Manchester United Premier League winner Shinji Kagawa who joined in January. Similar to Vieirinha, the 97 cap Japanese playmaker has experience of the Bundesliga- winning the title twice with Borussia Dortmund. 

Like Kagawa, experienced defender Jose Ángel Crespo spent time in the English Premier League as he was at Aston Villa for the 2015/16 season- playing once before leaving on loan in January 2016. The right back is currently injured but may be available for the second leg.



The Greek outfit have recruited six players in the off season with the loan signing of Parma's experienced Jasmin Kurtic amongst the most eye catching- the Slovenian midfielder is approaching 70 caps for his country.

What are their recent results?

PAOK are currently in preseason and spent the past fortnight taking on Dutch opposition- recording a loss against PSV Eindhoven before beating Heracles and Feyenoord. Their last competitive game was the successful Greek Cup Final outing on May 22nd. The 2-1 victory over Olympiacos coming courtesy of a late winner from loanee Michael Krmencik- a member of the Czech Republic Euro 2020 squad. They finished the 2020-21 Greek league play offs with defeats to both Olympiacos and Asteras Tripoli in their previous games to the cup final.

They finished the season playing a 3-4-3 formation, having changed from a back four at the end of February following a run of two victories in eight games. The change to a three at the back saw them end the season unbeaten prior to the play off defeats.

Tonight's game will be refereed by Antti Munukka of Finland- he was the man in the middle for England U17s Euro 2010 victory while, more recently he was in charge of Motherwell's penalty shootout win over Coleraine in last season's Europa League Qualifying stages. Incidentally, a Finnish referee was also in charge of the first Shamrock Rovers v PAOK encounter.

Who will the winners face?



The winners of the Bohemians v PAOK tie will face the winners of the Hibernians FC (Scotland) v HNJ Rijeka (Croatia) in the Conference League Play Off Stage. This tie will take place on the 19th and 26th of August.

    About Tom O'Connor

    Dundalk based reporter following the league since Monaghan United’s goalless draw against Athlone Town in 1996. Special interest in education and underage football. Shortlisted for the 2018 FAI Communications Award for series on Life beyond … View Full Profile