Super League Relegation Battle Heats Up as 7 Clubs Look To Survive
The Relegation Battle Has Heated Up As 7 Clubs Are Looking To Remain In The 2019/2020 Greek Super League
The fight for survival from several clubs who are looking to participate in next season’s edition of the Greek Super League is proving to be a spectacle, since 8th placed Xanthi and 15th placed OFI Crete are only separated by 10 points with 8 rounds remaining. Rock-bottom on the ladder is Apollon Smyrni, who have earned just only 9 points by only winning twice and drawn 3 times look to be done and dusted as it looks highly unlikely they will play another consecutive season in Greece’s top flight. Only 3 teams this season will be automatically relegated with the additional relegation play-off for the team that finishes 4th bottom of the competition, who will face off with the runners-up of the Football League. Currently as it stands, it’s PAS Giannina with just 20 points who are in the relegation play-off position, and Apollon Larissa with 33 points in the runners-up place in the Football League. With the remaining matchdays in the Greek Super League anything is possible.
As we view the bottom-half of the competition, the inform team so far based on the past 5 matches is 9th placed Lamia, earning a total of 10 out of 15 points by winning 3 games against Apollon Smyrni, OFI, and AEL. Due to Lamia’s impressive form I will be mentioning them first rather 8th placed Xanthi, who are running in a dry patch of results.
9th: PAS Lamia (The inform team)
Since the January acquisition of the 37-year-old midfielder Piti after he granted his release from AEL and then sign for his second stint with Lamia, he is proving to be the influential player with the teams current run of results, as well as Bolivian midfielder Bejarano solidifying the defensive midfield position and Ivorian attacking winger Jean-Luc Assoubre, Lamia look set to survive and feature in next season’s competition. Based on the clubs league results Makis Chavos’ men have the better home record than the rest of the relegation battlers with 5 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses (only Panionios are equal but have 4 losses to their home record, so Lamia is ahead). Still, if the team are to comfortably survive relegation they must continue this great run of form as well as improving on their terrible away record in the remaining rounds. Lamia are proving to be one of the strongest relegation battlers out of the 7 clubs, which Lamia are aiming to feature in the top-flight for their third consecutive season in the club’s history.
Lamia’s Next 8 Games: Levadiakos (Away), PAS Giannina, Asteras Tripolis (Away), Panionios, PAOK (Away), AEK, Olympiacos, Apollon Smyrni (Away).
8th: Xanthi
Above Lamia on goal difference is Xanthi, who have been great in the first half of the season. Currently, they are going through a dry patch of form since their heroic win against 4th placed Atromitos at home in January. After that win they’ve only managed to earn 3 points from 3 draws and lost 2 games in the past 5 matches, which the 2 losses have come at their home ground against Aris and Levadiakos. However, they have only scored one goal courtesy of Portuguese defender Dinis Almeida in an ill-disciplined 1-1 draw away to AEL. Although having a solid defence than any other team on the bottom half of the standings, Xanthi are finding it difficult scoring at the other end of the field, which could be costly if Rastavac’s team are mainly relying on their top goal scorer Jendrisek, which the Slovakian striker has tallied 7 goals in the league this season.
Next 8 Games: PAS Giannina (Away), Asteras Tripolis, Panionios (Away), PAOK, AEK, Olympiakos (Away), Apollon Smyrni, Aris (Away).
10th: Panionios
After losing their top scorer Giorgos Masouras who transfered to Olympiakos in January, Panionios are sitting 6 points above the relegation play-off spot after the team went through horrendous form from December to January only winning just one game against Asteras Tripolis in a 1-0 home win at the end of January. Recently, Giannis Maniatis has returned for his second stint with the club which he starred on his debut in a 2-0 home win against 6th placed Panathinaikos. With Maniatis’ addition to the squad and his pedigree of experience, as well as young versatile right-back Giannis Masouras on-loan from Olympiakos, the team will look to improve on their performances and their defensive record in the remaining 8 rounds. Historically, Panionios have hardly ever been relegated down to the 2nd tier so it is a very high chance we will see them finish comfortably and participate in another season of top-flight football.
Next 8 Games: Atromitos (Away), Panetolikos (Away), Xanthi, Lamia (Away), AEL, Levadiakos (Away), PAS Giannina, Asteras Tripoli (Away).
11th: Asteras Tripolis
Last season, Asteras Tripolis finished 5th place after picking some strong results in the second half of the 2017/18 Greek Super League season and earned a qualification spot for the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League, which they were eventually knocked out by Scotland’s Hibernian. This time around they find themselves in a position of possibly getting relegated to the Football League. The teams attacking power isn’t as prolific as it was last season, with Manias having just 4 goals to his name and this season’s summer acquisition of Spanish attacker Marc Fernandez also with 4 goals. It also should be noted the defence isn’t as solid, having conceded already 27 goals compared to last season’s 24, it shows that Asteras have not worked or focused around the defensive department of the squad. For reference, their round of 16 Greek Cup tie against AEL is more than enough evidence how dreadful the defensive display was in both legs despite progressing to the quarter finals. This Greek Super League season just hasn’t clicked for the club from Peloponnese as earlier on they lost their manager Savvas Pantelidis to Aris, which the club right after appointed Giorgos Paraschos, although they have shown in the past seasons they have survived relegation comfortably.
Next 8 Games: Panetolikos, Xanthi (Away), Lamia, AEL (Away), Levadiakos, PAS Giannina (Away), OFI (Away), Panionios.
12th: AEL
In recent news, Gianluca Festa handed in his resignation after AEL’s 2-1 loss to Lamia. His main reason was the poor standard of officiating by Greek referees that has evolved around the competition, which he heavily criticized days after the controversial 1-0 loss to Xanthi earlier in the season. However, Kougias and veteran defender Vangelis Moras convinced Festa to revoke his resignation, and so he did, and will continue as the club’s manager for the remainder of his contract. AEL’s standout performer of the season is no doubt the Serbian winger Milos Deletic, putting in consistent performances and showing his technical abilities has been spectacular to watch, but the team have not triumphed since Round 16 when they defeated rock-bottom Apollon Smyrni 3-0. Another factor of AEL this season is their disciplinary record, most particularly the captain Nikos Karanikas, who is currently the most ill-disciplined player in the league earning a total of 11 yellow cards and 2 red cards and has evidentially affected the results for AEL, which Festa had been forced to play centre-backs such as Gromitsaris and Golias, as well as attacking winger Suad Sahiti (who was released in January) to fill in for the right-back position. So, for the remaining 8 rounds the team must show consistency and be less-disciplined, otherwise it will prove very costly for AEL.
Next 8 Games: OFI (Away), Levadiakos, PAS Giannina (Away), Asteras Tripolis, Panionios (Away), PAOK, AEK (Away), Olympiakos.
13th: PAS Giannina
Having lost their most crucial player Pedro Conde to Emirati club Baniyas after the club accepted a fee of around €800,000 in the summer transfer window, it has proven to be a massive loss for the Eporiti club and currently find themselves in the relegation play-off position. The club replaced Pedro Conde by signing former PAOK striker Klaus Athanasiadis, but unfortunately with his acquisition he hasn’t provided the attacking power as the team expected him to do who has only scored just 2 goals this season. Nevertheless, PAS Giannina have been performing abysmally all season long and have shown they have problems at both ends of the field. As mentioned before Pedro Conde is a massive loss for PAS Giannina, the team has undeniably struggled without his attacking mindset and goal-scoring ability, and if they are confirmed relegated at the end of the season the main reason will be the club’s sale of the Spanish striker. It will be a challenging 8 rounds for them to survive and feature in next season’s competition.
Next 8 Games: Xanthi, Lamia (Away), AEL, Levadiakos (Away), OFI (Away, Asteras Tripolis, Panionios (Away), PAOK.
14th: Levadiakos, & 15th: OFI
Just below PAS Giannina in the danger zones are Levadiakos (14th position) and OFI (15th position) respectively. Levadiakos are once again in consecutive seasons battling to remain in the top-flight, whereas OFI are aiming to feature for a second consecutive season after earning promotion from the Football League along with Aris. In terms of current form, it is Levadiakos who have earned 7 points from the last 5 matches which have come from 1-0 victories against Panaitolikos and Xanthi, and may possibly even surpass 13th placed PAS Giannina at this rate. OFI have drawn 2 matches and lost 3 in their past 5 matches, and if they don’t improve on their results they will be relegated and be featured again in the Football League, which would be very disappointing to see the historic Cretan club go down after their first season back in top-flight football. Both teams overall have been shocking this season, but recently Levadiakos look to have raise their standard and will be putting the pressure on the rest of the relegation battlers in the 8 remaining rounds to feature in next seasons Greek Super League.
Levadiakos Next 8 Games: Lamia, AEL (Away), OFI (Away), PAS Giannina, Asteras Tripolis (Away), Panionios, PAOK (Away), AEK.
OFI’s Next 8 Games: AEL, Apollon Smyrni (Away), Levadiakos, Aris (Away), PAS Giannina, Panathinaikos (Away), Asteras Tripolis, Atromitos (Away)
Despite most Greek football fans supporting the big clubs we all love a good relegation battle, and this season features 7 teams who are only separated by 10 points, they will be putting the pressure against each other as they all aim to survive relegation and participate in the revamped 14 team Greek Super League season of 2019/2020.
By Michael for Hellas Football
The fight for survival from several clubs who are looking to participate in next season’s edition of the Greek Super League is proving to be a spectacle, since 8th placed Xanthi and 15th placed OFI Crete are only separated by 10 points with 8 rounds remaining. Rock-bottom on the ladder is Apollon Smyrni, who have earned just only 9 points by only winning twice and drawn 3 times look to be done and dusted as it looks highly unlikely they will play another consecutive season in Greece’s top flight. Only 3 teams this season will be automatically relegated with the additional relegation play-off for the team that finishes 4th bottom of the competition, who will face off with the runners-up of the Football League. Currently as it stands, it’s PAS Giannina with just 20 points who are in the relegation play-off position, and Apollon Larissa with 33 points in the runners-up place in the Football League. With the remaining matchdays in the Greek Super League anything is possible.
As we view the bottom-half of the competition, the inform team so far based on the past 5 matches is 9th placed Lamia, earning a total of 10 out of 15 points by winning 3 games against Apollon Smyrni, OFI, and AEL. Due to Lamia’s impressive form I will be mentioning them first rather 8th placed Xanthi, who are running in a dry patch of results.
9th: PAS Lamia (The inform team)
Since the January acquisition of the 37-year-old midfielder Piti after he granted his release from AEL and then sign for his second stint with Lamia, he is proving to be the influential player with the teams current run of results, as well as Bolivian midfielder Bejarano solidifying the defensive midfield position and Ivorian attacking winger Jean-Luc Assoubre, Lamia look set to survive and feature in next season’s competition. Based on the clubs league results Makis Chavos’ men have the better home record than the rest of the relegation battlers with 5 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses (only Panionios are equal but have 4 losses to their home record, so Lamia is ahead). Still, if the team are to comfortably survive relegation they must continue this great run of form as well as improving on their terrible away record in the remaining rounds. Lamia are proving to be one of the strongest relegation battlers out of the 7 clubs, which Lamia are aiming to feature in the top-flight for their third consecutive season in the club’s history.
Lamia’s Next 8 Games: Levadiakos (Away), PAS Giannina, Asteras Tripolis (Away), Panionios, PAOK (Away), AEK, Olympiacos, Apollon Smyrni (Away).
8th: Xanthi
Above Lamia on goal difference is Xanthi, who have been great in the first half of the season. Currently, they are going through a dry patch of form since their heroic win against 4th placed Atromitos at home in January. After that win they’ve only managed to earn 3 points from 3 draws and lost 2 games in the past 5 matches, which the 2 losses have come at their home ground against Aris and Levadiakos. However, they have only scored one goal courtesy of Portuguese defender Dinis Almeida in an ill-disciplined 1-1 draw away to AEL. Although having a solid defence than any other team on the bottom half of the standings, Xanthi are finding it difficult scoring at the other end of the field, which could be costly if Rastavac’s team are mainly relying on their top goal scorer Jendrisek, which the Slovakian striker has tallied 7 goals in the league this season.
Next 8 Games: PAS Giannina (Away), Asteras Tripolis, Panionios (Away), PAOK, AEK, Olympiakos (Away), Apollon Smyrni, Aris (Away).
10th: Panionios
After losing their top scorer Giorgos Masouras who transfered to Olympiakos in January, Panionios are sitting 6 points above the relegation play-off spot after the team went through horrendous form from December to January only winning just one game against Asteras Tripolis in a 1-0 home win at the end of January. Recently, Giannis Maniatis has returned for his second stint with the club which he starred on his debut in a 2-0 home win against 6th placed Panathinaikos. With Maniatis’ addition to the squad and his pedigree of experience, as well as young versatile right-back Giannis Masouras on-loan from Olympiakos, the team will look to improve on their performances and their defensive record in the remaining 8 rounds. Historically, Panionios have hardly ever been relegated down to the 2nd tier so it is a very high chance we will see them finish comfortably and participate in another season of top-flight football.
Next 8 Games: Atromitos (Away), Panetolikos (Away), Xanthi, Lamia (Away), AEL, Levadiakos (Away), PAS Giannina, Asteras Tripoli (Away).
11th: Asteras Tripolis
Last season, Asteras Tripolis finished 5th place after picking some strong results in the second half of the 2017/18 Greek Super League season and earned a qualification spot for the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League, which they were eventually knocked out by Scotland’s Hibernian. This time around they find themselves in a position of possibly getting relegated to the Football League. The teams attacking power isn’t as prolific as it was last season, with Manias having just 4 goals to his name and this season’s summer acquisition of Spanish attacker Marc Fernandez also with 4 goals. It also should be noted the defence isn’t as solid, having conceded already 27 goals compared to last season’s 24, it shows that Asteras have not worked or focused around the defensive department of the squad. For reference, their round of 16 Greek Cup tie against AEL is more than enough evidence how dreadful the defensive display was in both legs despite progressing to the quarter finals. This Greek Super League season just hasn’t clicked for the club from Peloponnese as earlier on they lost their manager Savvas Pantelidis to Aris, which the club right after appointed Giorgos Paraschos, although they have shown in the past seasons they have survived relegation comfortably.
Next 8 Games: Panetolikos, Xanthi (Away), Lamia, AEL (Away), Levadiakos, PAS Giannina (Away), OFI (Away), Panionios.
12th: AEL
In recent news, Gianluca Festa handed in his resignation after AEL’s 2-1 loss to Lamia. His main reason was the poor standard of officiating by Greek referees that has evolved around the competition, which he heavily criticized days after the controversial 1-0 loss to Xanthi earlier in the season. However, Kougias and veteran defender Vangelis Moras convinced Festa to revoke his resignation, and so he did, and will continue as the club’s manager for the remainder of his contract. AEL’s standout performer of the season is no doubt the Serbian winger Milos Deletic, putting in consistent performances and showing his technical abilities has been spectacular to watch, but the team have not triumphed since Round 16 when they defeated rock-bottom Apollon Smyrni 3-0. Another factor of AEL this season is their disciplinary record, most particularly the captain Nikos Karanikas, who is currently the most ill-disciplined player in the league earning a total of 11 yellow cards and 2 red cards and has evidentially affected the results for AEL, which Festa had been forced to play centre-backs such as Gromitsaris and Golias, as well as attacking winger Suad Sahiti (who was released in January) to fill in for the right-back position. So, for the remaining 8 rounds the team must show consistency and be less-disciplined, otherwise it will prove very costly for AEL.
Next 8 Games: OFI (Away), Levadiakos, PAS Giannina (Away), Asteras Tripolis, Panionios (Away), PAOK, AEK (Away), Olympiakos.
13th: PAS Giannina
Having lost their most crucial player Pedro Conde to Emirati club Baniyas after the club accepted a fee of around €800,000 in the summer transfer window, it has proven to be a massive loss for the Eporiti club and currently find themselves in the relegation play-off position. The club replaced Pedro Conde by signing former PAOK striker Klaus Athanasiadis, but unfortunately with his acquisition he hasn’t provided the attacking power as the team expected him to do who has only scored just 2 goals this season. Nevertheless, PAS Giannina have been performing abysmally all season long and have shown they have problems at both ends of the field. As mentioned before Pedro Conde is a massive loss for PAS Giannina, the team has undeniably struggled without his attacking mindset and goal-scoring ability, and if they are confirmed relegated at the end of the season the main reason will be the club’s sale of the Spanish striker. It will be a challenging 8 rounds for them to survive and feature in next season’s competition.
Next 8 Games: Xanthi, Lamia (Away), AEL, Levadiakos (Away), OFI (Away, Asteras Tripolis, Panionios (Away), PAOK.
14th: Levadiakos, & 15th: OFI
Just below PAS Giannina in the danger zones are Levadiakos (14th position) and OFI (15th position) respectively. Levadiakos are once again in consecutive seasons battling to remain in the top-flight, whereas OFI are aiming to feature for a second consecutive season after earning promotion from the Football League along with Aris. In terms of current form, it is Levadiakos who have earned 7 points from the last 5 matches which have come from 1-0 victories against Panaitolikos and Xanthi, and may possibly even surpass 13th placed PAS Giannina at this rate. OFI have drawn 2 matches and lost 3 in their past 5 matches, and if they don’t improve on their results they will be relegated and be featured again in the Football League, which would be very disappointing to see the historic Cretan club go down after their first season back in top-flight football. Both teams overall have been shocking this season, but recently Levadiakos look to have raise their standard and will be putting the pressure on the rest of the relegation battlers in the 8 remaining rounds to feature in next seasons Greek Super League.
Levadiakos Next 8 Games: Lamia, AEL (Away), OFI (Away), PAS Giannina, Asteras Tripolis (Away), Panionios, PAOK (Away), AEK.
OFI’s Next 8 Games: AEL, Apollon Smyrni (Away), Levadiakos, Aris (Away), PAS Giannina, Panathinaikos (Away), Asteras Tripolis, Atromitos (Away)
Despite most Greek football fans supporting the big clubs we all love a good relegation battle, and this season features 7 teams who are only separated by 10 points, they will be putting the pressure against each other as they all aim to survive relegation and participate in the revamped 14 team Greek Super League season of 2019/2020.
By Michael for Hellas Football
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