All the interesting numbers regarding the upcoming match in Bosnia (22:00, Novasports Prime)
As the countdown begins for the 2nd match of the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, PAOK presented the most interesting statistics associated with the team during this period.
Specifically, here’s what they mention: “PAOK started their European campaign with a victory after three years, winning 3-2 against Borac in Thessaloniki. The Double-Headed Eagle scored three goals with headers in the same match, while Konstantinos Koulierakis reached five goals in European competitions with the two he scored, placing him in the all-time top twenty of PAOK.
Four players from the top twenty of PAOK in European cups are still active, with Andrija Živković already in 3rd place all-time with 12 goals, Adelino Vieirinha in 5th with 10, and Stefan Schwab in 11th with 6 goals.
The victory against Borac ended a negative streak where PAOK had not won in their last three European openers. They had failed to win, having lost to Bohemians 2-1 on August 3, 2021, lost to Levski Sofia 2-0 on July 21, 2022, and last year – on July 27, 2023 – they had a goalless draw against Beitar.
This marks the 16th consecutive year that PAOK begins its obligations in July or early August. This “process” started on July 30, 2009, in Valerenga – PAOK 1-2, when the Double-Headed Eagle played its first European match earlier than August.
Since then, they have consistently entered the early stages of European qualifying, with their 11 openers taking place in July and five in August. This was their 11th July opener and just the 6th as a host among the 16 matches played.
This is the seventh year they are in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, with their first in 2004-05 ending in disqualification against Maccabi in the first match, and returning again in 2010-11 against Ajax (1-1 in the Netherlands and 3-3 in Thessaloniki).
In 2013-14, the disqualification of Metalist led PAOK to the Play Offs of the Champions League for the first time, where they were knocked out by Schalke with a 1-1 draw in Germany and a 3-2 loss in Toumba. Ajax followed in 2016-17 in the 3rd qualifying round with 1-1 in The Netherlands and a 2-1 loss in Thessaloniki.
In 2018-19, they had two qualifying rounds and reached the Play Offs for the second time. They eliminated Basel with a 2-1 win in Toumba and a 3-0 victory in Switzerland, then defeated Spartak Moscow 3-2 in Thessaloniki and drew 0-0 in Russia. In the Play Offs, they drew 1-1 in Portugal against Benfica and lost 4-1 in Toumba.
2019-20 was the last time they appeared in the Champions League qualifiers, where again they faced Ajax and had a 2-2 draw in Toumba, followed by a loss of 3-2 in The Netherlands.