AEK vs PAOK. Match Analysis

AEK – PAOK Match Analysis (3.2.2019)

Lineups

PAOK lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Matos and Vieirinha helping El-Kaddouri and Leo Jaba on the wings when PAOK is on the attack. Biseswar acted as a number 10 to target Alef so he can find some space behind AEK’s midfield and Akpom was used as a sole striker so he can hold up the ball.

AEK lined up in a 3-5-2 formation with Galo and Hult acting as attacking fullbacks, Alef linking the defence with the midfield, Mantalos and Bakasetas tried to find some space behind PAOK’s midfield and Livaja played just behind AEK’s target man Ponce.

The Game

1st Half

After the first 5-6 minutes which saw AEK launch some promising attacks, it quickly became clear that their 3-5-2 formation caused major problems at the back. PAOK were able to target the wings, taking advantage of the fact that Galo and Hult were alone in each side when AEK was defending. This coupled up with the fact that Mantalos and (mainly) Bakasetas were not that keen on their defensive duties, meant that PAOK found themselves with a lot of space just in front of AEK’s defence. Here is an example of PAOK doubling up on their wings with El-Kaddouri trying to take on Galo while Biseswar cuts to the near post. We can also see a PAOK player roaming freely on the box on the far side making matters worse for AEK.

In that regard it didn’t really come as a surprise when AEK conceded a goal early on, but it wasn’t PAOK’s attacking threat that did the trick. In the 10th minute PAOK win a corner, El-Kaddouri takes it and AEK make a mess out of defending set pieces. A poorly-marked Varela wins the battle against Chygrynskiy and heads it to Mauricio who scores for PAOK. Here we can see how Ponce fails to track Mauricio’s run in a really dangerous area…                          … and PAOK score an easy and cheap goal.

After the goal, AEK seemed to be in a lot of trouble and in danger of completely losing the game early on. Fortunately for them and unfortunately for PAOK, in the 32nd minute Leo Jaba was shown a red card for a challenge on Niklas Hult and the power dynamic of the game changed in an instant. Now AEK had the numerical advantage and PAOK had to resort to defending near their box as they didn’t have the ability to remain in possession. Lucescu doesn’t make any immediate changes but he resorts to a 4-4-1 formation, moving Biseswar to the left and El-Kaddouri on the right.

2nd Half

During half-time, Ouzounidis bring on a much need Nenad Krsticic for Bakakis and changes AEK’s formation to a 4-4-2 with Mantalos and Bakasetas on each side. AEK’s basic strategy to break down a stubborn PAOK defence seemed to be revolved around crosses, a lot of crosses, a lot of poorly delivered crosses.

AEK attempted 47 (!!) crosses while successfully completing only 13 of them. AEK’s plan consisted of getting the ball on the wings to full-backs Galo and Hult so they can cross to attackers inside the box. The problem was that since PAOK was defending so low, they had a significant numerical advantage inside the box whereas AEK did not have a lot of players there. Here is an example, PAOK have 6 players inside the box while AEK have 2 (one of which is offside)

Even if AEK had a lot of players inside the box, the crosses were most of the time so poor that they could be easily cleared by PAOK’s defenders. Ouzounidis then subbed on Lukas Boye for Alef, putting him on the right/left side (he switched sides a lot) with Mantalos and Kristicic being in the middle.

Its important now to show how poor El-Kaddouri was at this point in the game and how much of a liability he was for PAOK. He was often caught out of position…

and allowed AEK players a lot of time and space on the wing, something that let AEK create a lot of dangerous situations. To add to his defensive shortcomings, El-Kaddouri was also careless when in possession near his area….

… leading to another set of dangerous situations…

It is no coincidence that as soon as he was subbed out for Pelkas in the 84th minute, PAOK improved massively on that front and were able to remain relatively unpressured until the end of the game.

By the 74th minute AEK were putting a lot of players inside PAOK’s box….

and a brilliant Livaja cross found Ponce who equalized for AEK with a tremendous header.

Conclusion

The 3-5-2 formation did not work as intended for AEK in this game, despite its success in their previous games. PAOK were able to find weak spots at AEK’s formation and took advantage of their poor defending of set-pieces. After Leo Jaba was sent off, PAOK had to resort to defending in their own box while AEK focused on a cross-based tactic that ultimately did not prove successful. AEK may have equalized, but they had 60 minutes with a numerical advantage and they should have made more of that. Good point for PAOK, who establish themselves as clear favorites for the title whereas AEK have probably lost 2nd place and now can only focus on getting 3rd. By Mesartic for Hellas Football