Who are Shamrock Rovers’ Europa League play-off opponents PAOK?

Who are PAOK?

They are the reigning Greek champions having been title winners on four occasions – prior to them winning the most recent Greek Super League, they were last champions in 2018/19. They won the Greek Cup last in 2021. 

Where will Thursday’s game be played?

The match is set for the Toumba Stadium which holds almost 30,000 spectators in the north Greek city of Thessaloniki. 

Will there be rubbish on every street corner like the last time Rovers played there?

Not likely but back in the autumn of 2011 Shamrock Rovers supporters were in town for a Europa League group game with PAOK, also in Greece were the IMF. They were providing the Greek state a bailout.

With austerity in the air, the locals were not happy with the match day sights including a march by workers through the rubbish strewn city centre but there was no trouble in Thessaloniki compared with Athens where the march in the Greek capital involving 50,000 was followed by riots that left one man dead and 200 injured.

In Thessaloniki, the refuse collectors were on strike – hence the rubbish on streets - and the air traffic controllers threatened to close Greek airspace. They went with a 12 hour stoppage that did affect some supporters getting to the game. 

A banner in the ground on match night in the home end read ‘IMF – Get the fuck out of here’.

Can we stick to football?

I’m just giving some context about the last time Rovers played there. Eyeroll. Ok, what else do you want to know?

Just tell me who PAOK’s manager is please?

Their 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 plays over the PA when PAOK enter the pitch?

AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells is blasted out. 

What European pedigree do they have?

PAOK reached the quarter final stage of the 1973-74 European Cup Winners' Cup and have appeared in the Europa League Group Stages nine times. In 2011, they played Rovers, Rubin Kazan and Tottenham Hotspur in the group stage. They beat Rovers 2-1 in Greece with Karl Sheppard scoring for the Hoops and 3-1 in Tallaght Stadium with Billy Dennehy on the scoresheet for the Irish champions that night. 

They made the quarter-final of the Conference League in 2021/22 losing to Marseille having beaten Bohs 3-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round and last season when they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Club Brugge.

The Greek side are currently ranked at 51 in the UEFA standings with Shamrock Rovers at 157.

Who to watch out for?

Their squad is packed with internationals.

A familiar face to Rovers fans will be Portuguese right sided player and Euro 2016 winner Vieirinha who scored against Shamrock Rovers in that 2011 match in Greece. After a few years in Germany, with Wolfsburg, he is back with PAOK and is currently the club captain. 

Andrija Zivkovic is another danger around the box, the former Serbian Under 20 World Cup winner joined the club from Benfica in autumn 2020. He played in all three group stage matches at the recent Euros lining out against England, Slovenia and Denmark.

They have the Guinean international goalkeeper Mady Camara between the sticks having joined from Roma where he played 15 times in the 2022/23 season.

The ex-Wolves and wonderfully named Jonny Otto is their full back. 

Baba Rahman, who spent a long time on Chelsea’s books being loaned out to Schalke, Reims and Reading, signed permanently for PAOK last year.

What are their recent results?

They have played just the one league game winning 3-2 at home Panserraikos with Stefan Schwab scoring a brace to go with a first half injury time goal by Magomed Ozdoev.

That was their fifth game of the 2024/25 season having previously played four Champions League qualifiers prior to that Greek Super League game. They entered the European qualifiers in the second qualifying round defeating Borac Banja Luka home (3-2) and away (1-0). In the next round they then drew 2-2 in Malmo before losing 4-3 at home after extra-time to drop into the Europa League play-off. They played five pre-season friendlies beating Larnaca 2-1 before losing to Hibs, Genk, Union St. Gilloise and Vitesse Arnhem.

What formation do they play?

In the last year 4-2-3-1 is their preferred set up (60%) – and they have used that in all their European games this season - with a 4-4-2 used next most (22%).

Who is the referee in charge of this game?

Albanian referee Enea Jorgji has the whistle for this one

Albanian and Lithuanian whistlers to take charge of Shamrock Rovers’ Europa League play-off https://t.co/XYxFwHxf5npic.twitter.com/85ZBB81W3o

— extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) August 16, 2024

Will this match be televised on free to air Irish television?

No but you can watch Home and Away on RTÉ2, the Wonder Years on TG4 and The Chase on Virgin Media Two.

Where can I watch Shamrock Rovers’ Europa League play-off? Well, not on domestic TV as the Hoops have to lineup LOITV stream as Irish TV stations uninterested https://t.co/udsyuiKxvZpic.twitter.com/f0Q9fMhM04

— extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) August 19, 2024

How can I watch the match?

Both legs of the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League play-off will be streamed live on LOITV.

What next for the winners and losers of this tie?

The winner goes through to the league phase of the revamped Europa League where they will play eight matches against eight different teams – four home and four away – beginning at the end of September and concluding with two matches in January 2025.

The loser will play in the Conference League. The league phase of that competition consists of six matches against six opponents – three home and three away. Those matches begin with matchday one on 3 October, with the final league stage game taking place on 19 December.

The league stage for both competitions includes 36 teams with 24 teams advancing into the knock out stages in February 2025. Teams one to eight go into the round of 16, while ninth to 24^th will go into a series of two legged matches to earn the right to go to the last 16. Teams 25 to 36 will be eliminated.