Playoffs and Playouts are go

Playoffs and Playouts are go

By Greg Gavalas

The time has finally come for some football and it’s great to see the Super League back in action with both Playoffs and Playouts.

It will 14 weeks since the last round of the regular season so the form card starts from the beginning, as we have seen in some other leagues, most clubs have taken off from where they left off, whilst a minority have struggled with the long unprecedented break, although the Greek teams have been training for some weeks now.

The first round will be played without fans and we hope to see a 20% stadium capacity allowance from next week.

With PAOK’s 7 point reduction due to PAOKXanthi Gate, Olympiakos needs just 11 points to secure another Championship.

PAOK now face off with AEK in the most sort after battle of the playoffs, whoever can finish second will earn a Champions League position, at the moment PAOK leads AEK by just one point.

With Panathinaikos out of Europe for one more season, they are out to make amends and build for the future, the big question is who will be on their bench throughout the series with Giorgios Donis on the outer of Giannis Alafouzos.

That leaves Aris and OFI in Europe, a welcome return for the Cretans after 20 long years without European football qualification.

Playoffs

Aris vs OFI

The battle for 5th is the first game of the playoffs, even though both teams have qualified for Europe, whoever can finish ahead of the other will ensure they start their European commitments a little later than the other, although given what the unplanned break has done to competitions and time frames, it may mean both start at the same time but the remains to be seen.

Aris has had a drama filled Covid break, they had FIFA issue them a one year FIFA ban, the impact on this could be felt later this month with several key players off contract by then, a big space to watch as the impact of this is revealed throughout the next few weeks.

OFI have had a decent break, the loss of Kosmas Tsilianidis due to injury is not great, but the return from injury to Nabi Nabil and Semedo Lisandro is a positive.

Prediction – Aris 2-1 in a good game of football 

PAOK vs Olympiakos

Billed as a Championship decider not long ago, the Reds from Piraeus now enjoy a 14 point lead in first place so the match will see PAOK looking to keep AEK in third with a win and steal some points from their opponents who are also under a match fixing investigation which could lead to heavy penalties.

PAOK will be without key players due to card suspensions, Dimitris Giannoulis, Sverrir Ingason, Leo Matos and Douglas Augusto. 

Out injured are Jose Crespo and Leo Jaba meaning PAOK will be considerably under power.

Olympiakos on the other hand are in a great position with no injury worries and will be looking to repeat what they did in the second last round of the league and come away from Toumba as winners.

Prediction – Olympiakos 2-1 

AEK vs Panathinaikos

The Athenian derby finds both teams coming off strong finishes in the regular season, especially AEK, however from a coaching stand point the two clubs are at a polar opposite and this could play a big role in the outcome of this match.

AEK are in decent condition from a player perspective and it would seem Massimo Carrera will have both Nelson Oliveira and Sergio Araujo at his disposal although with both men coming from injury it will be interesting to see which 11 and formation the Italian will go with.

Panathinaikos are ok from a player perspective but their head coach, Giorgios Donis may find motivation hard to come by knowing he will not be at PAO next season, as such a win over a more stable AEK would be a big statement on his behalf.

Prediction – AEK 1-0

Playouts

Panionios vs Volos

Xanthi vs Atromitos

Larisa vs Asteras Tripolis

Lamia vs Panetolikos

On the other side of the table we have the playouts, with teams’ playing off to avoid relegation.

The three clubs in the spot light are Panionios, Panetolikos and now Xanthi, who after receiving a 12 point reduction due to PAOKXanthi Gate, now find themselves fighting to stay up, as such each match will mean everything for these teams.

The oldest Greek football club, Panionios will want to avoid relegation and make history as they have never being relegated before.

The Xanthi – Atromitos match has been postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to a small spike in Covid cases in the area, the last week.

Atromitos could have extra motivation to finish the playouts first though, with PAO banned from Europe and Aris under watch of FIFA with transfer and money owning issues, if a suspension came their way, Atromitos would participate in Europe, although, Asteras and Larisa may have something to say about top spot also.

Bring on the football!

Hellas Football

Follow @GregGavalas 

Image from sport24.gr