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On Sunday, "Metrosport" savored the disappointed fans from Basel speak. The Thessaloniki sports newspaper has chosen, after the 1: 2 loss to FC St. Gallen, a particularly haunting commentary on the internet, in which coach Raphael Wicky's replacement, sports director Marco Streller and president Bernhard Burgener are required. Thus, the sheet raises optimism among fans of PAOK Saloniki before the qualifying match of the Champions League on Tuesday against FC Basel.
PAOK has never made the leap into the exclusive circle of the European aristocracy of gambling and money, but this time the hopes are particularly high, even if it is against Basel in the first of three playoff rounds. Nourri is the belief in progress, because the opponent of his master subscription has been lost and the current bad mood on the Rhine knee. "If it is not now, when should we beat Basel?" – this is the motto in the relevant PAOK fan forums.
The performance of the team of coach Razvan Lucescu in the preparation is not intoxicating. Although the Greek season starts on August 25, PAOK has been training since June 20, losing two training camps in the Netherlands and losing to Royal Antwerp (1: 3) and defeating the Dutch club. first division De Graafschap (2: 3)
But coach Lucescu praises "the mentality" of his selection. The 49-year-old Romanian, son of the current Turkish national coach and long-time Schachtar Donetsk coach, 72-year-old Mircea Lucescu, is backed by PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis. After his first season of cup, Lucescu received a gift from the billionaire footballer Savvidis, sprinkled with gems and the message: "Razvan, you have created a perfect climate for the team.We have finished the season head up, congratulations "
Ivan Savvidis is nicknamed" Ivan the Terrible "by the PAOK fans.This is an allusion to the home of the entrepreneur in the Soviet Union.In 2012, Savvidis acquired a majority stake in the traditional club.
At the end of March, the gray-haired man made the headlines when he stormed the pitch with a gun at his belt in the final stages of the match against his opponent AEK Athens, the referee had refused to PAOK the alleged goal of the 1-0 victory.After this scandal, the already scandalous Greek league was suspended for three weeks, also an exclusion of PAOK international competitions was in the range of possibilities. in, PAOK was deducted three points, and the next season starts the club with two points of deduction. Savvidis, 59, was punished by a three-year stadium ban.
Former high-level referee as sports director
Sports director Lubos Michel (50) was also sentenced to a 90-day stadium ban because he reportedly threatened the sport. arbitrator. The Slovak was himself a referee and led the final of the Champions League 2008. Since 2015, he has been acting as sporting director at PAOK, having worked as a team director for Shakhtar Donetsk after his career active, working with the father of the current coach PAOK.
The scandal – as bizarre as it is – even strengthened Savvidis and also the PAOK fans' challenge. Since 1985, the first club of the historic port city on the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean waits to win the Greek championship. During the past season, you have seen yourself as close as a long time – and brought by questionable decisions of referees for triumph.
The North-South conflict and a president in the lead
In the PAOK football club, the north-south conflict of the country is reflected on Athens: Athens against Thessaloniki, PAOK against the big clubs Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and AEK,
This rivalry also plays a role before the match against Basel, a commentator of "Metrosport" wrote about PAOK's motivation for the Champions League matches against the Swiss: "The torturous adventure of the world. last year and sadistic flight The championship should not be forgotten. "This opinion is common to many people in Thessaloniki.
In Savvidis, fans see a fighter against the repression of the Athenian establishment.Born in Georgia today, Savvidis builds a tobacco empire after the 39, collapse of the Union sov For a time, the oligarch sat on Putin's ruling party, "United Russia," in the Russian parliament.
For six years he invested in Greece in crisis. Savvidis owns shares in the port of Salonika, newspapers and a television channel. Its companies "Makedonia Palace Hotel" and "Souroti" are the main sponsors of the Super League.
Top Contacts
Savvidis would have the best relations with Prime Minister Tsipras. Three years ago, when the government passed a controversial law that exempts PAOK Thessaloniki from tax debts worth millions, Savvidis wrote a letter of thanks to Tsipras. He said: "Released from the debt chains, we will be able to lead the club on the path of our dreams."
Also in Athens there is a different reading of the conflict: PAOK and Thessaloniki wanted by good relations to The government buys success. The government has firmly rejected these accusations; a debate in parliament on the issue was heated in early April
For PAOK fans, Savvidis is a hero who fights for their concerns. So obviously, the club is thinking of providing a number of season tickets to the unemployed. The stadium "Toumba", named after the neighborhood of the same name near the center, is an old concrete basin that can only accommodate 28,701 spectators, and only the grandstand is covered.
PAOK fans are considered bloody, last season stormed 40 radicals among them a TV studio and forced the moderator to make their demands, as threatened PAOK because of riots again from the deduction of points. In Thessalonikit, Basel fans have not called for a boycott of the match in Greece – in protest against the personalized tickets.
https://tageswoche.ch/sport/muttenzerkurve-boykottiert-spiel-in-thessaloniki/
The team of tactical coach fox Lucescu is very experienced. The European Champion of Portugal Vieirinha (32 years old) is one of the most known players of the team with his past Bundesliga in Wolfsburg. Ukrainian international and central defender Evgen Khacheridi of Dynamo Kiev and 19-year-old Leo Jaba Akhmet Grozny, a Brazilian junior international, are among the newcomers.
Players, too, follow their powerful club owner, Aleksandar Prijovic, for example, when he said of Savvidis: "He is a great boss and we are his army."
PAOK bets on the doors of Prijovic
Gallen born center forward is the great hope before the matches against FC Basel. After stints in Italy, England, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland, the Serbian International increased last season with 27 goals in 39 competition matches to the crowd favorite. Only in February, he extended his contract with PAOK until 2022.
Nevertheless, the powerful professional is considered a possible alternative candidate, in group stage can not be reached. Clubs from England, Germany, but also from the Arab region would have an interest in a commitment to Prijovics, who at the World Cup for a short run against Costa Rica. On the other hand, PAOK wants to engage a second striker and a left back anyway.
Warning: Doppeladler
One of the last Instagram posts of Prijovic contains comments in English obviously Serbian. In one of them, in memory of the World Cup match against Switzerland (1: 2) in English: "Prijo will destroy Basel and the other Xhaka." Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka mark since their two-headed jubilation considered by many Serbs as enemies of the state.
It is fairly sober to note that Granit's brother, Taulant Xhaka, has disappeared. And a two-headed eagle pays tribute to PAOK supporters: He is the heraldic animal in the club emblem. Whatever the case may be, Tuesday's Toumba match will be difficult for FC Basel for a variety of reasons. //tageswoche.ch/sport/der-fc-basel-bekommt-es-mit-paok-saloniki-zu-tun/
