FC Basel meets Ivan the Terrible and his army

The owner of Paok, Ivan Savvidis, is banned from stadium. (Photo: AP)

Razvan Lucescu says he's not sleeping right now. But not because of the pressure, but "because of the huge desire to qualify for the Champions League". The impatience of the qualifying match for the Champions League against FC Basel on Tuesday indicates to Paok Thessaloniki coach the supporters of the first club in the port city of the Thermaic Gulf. Hundreds of people were already in front of the ticket office of the Toumba stadium on Monday to get the last tickets for the match against the Swiss.

Paok has never made the leap in the group stage of the Champions League, but this time he should succeed. The loss of FC Basel last season and their 2-1 defeat at home against St. Gallen last weekend is fueling the Greeks' confidence in the progress.

Since June 20 in training

The national championship begins on August 25, Paok has been training since June 20 and has competed in two training camps in the Netherlands, after a defeat against Royal Antwerp (1: 2) last victory against Dutch first division club De Graafschap (2: 1) gave. Coach Lucescu praises "the mentality" of his selection and his "great willingness to fight".

The 49-year-old Romanian, son of the current Turkish national coach and long-time coach of Schachtjor Donetsk, 72-year-old Mircea Lucescu, is backed by Paok owner Ivan Savvidis. After winning the Cup last season, billionaire Savvidis Lucescu poured a soccer ball studded with precious stones. Savvidis is nicknamed "Ivan the Terrible" by Paok fans. This is an allusion to the 59-year-old born in the Soviet Union entrepreneur, who in 2012 acquired the majority of the traditional club. Savvidis owns shares in the port of Thessaloniki as well as newspapers and a television channel. Its companies Makedonia Palace Hotel and Souroti are the main sponsors of the Super League.

In March, the gray-haired man made headlines around the world when he stormed the final matches of the match against eventual AEK Athens champion with a gun at the waist on the field – the referee had removed Paok 1-0, After this scandal, the already scandalous Greek League was suspended for three weeks, Paok was deducted three points, the following season the club starts with two points of deduction; Savvidis was punished with a three-year stadium ban. Sports director Lubos Michel, aged 50, was also busy with the 90-day stadium ban; he should have threatened the referee at that time. The Slovak was himself referee, led in 2008, among others, the final of the Champions League. Since 2015 he is sports director of Paok, having worked as team leader of Shakhtar Donetsk, where he worked with the father of the current coach Paok.

A champion of Europe in the team

Scandal has only enhanced the challenge of Paok fans. Since 1985, the club has been waiting for the victory of the Greek championship. In the last season, you've seen yourself so close to winning the title – and betrayed by dubious referees' decisions that the second championship around her. In the Paok football club, the north-south conflict is reflected in the views of the northern Greeks: Athens against Thessaloniki, Paok against the great Athenian clubs Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and AEK

The champion of Europe Vieirinha , 32, is the best-known professional of the team. Born in St. Gallen, Aleksandar Prijovic rose to 39 matches in the last round with 27 goals. It was only in February that the Serbian International renewed its contract with Paok until 2022. Nevertheless, the powerful professional is considered an alternative candidate, if the group phase of the Champions League is not reached. About Savvidis Prijovic said, "He is a great boss, and we are his army."