Hellas Football

The Invincible Panathinaikos Team of 1964   By: Antonios Theodosis In the world of Greek football the name Panathinaikos reigns supreme in history and is synonymous with many firsts. The Greens were the first club to ever reach a European final, the first to hire a foreign coach, and the first to have an invincible season, a record which lasted for fifty-five years.   Often times when one examines the history of Panathinaikos one distinct moment sticks out above the rest, that of course being the European Cup run of 1971, but there is another moment that is incredible in its own right and perhaps paved the way for that famous run just seven years later, and that is the invincible 1963-1964 season. In a campaign that consisted of thirty matches, Panathinaikos would record an incredible twenty-four wins and six draws. Some of the most notable wins included a 5-4 win against AEK, a 4-0 win against PAOK, and a 0-1 win away against arch-rivals Olympiakos on the final match day of t...

PAOK VS GRANADA MATCH PREVIEW By Alexander Koutakos After PAOK’s first match draw against Omonia, all eyes are now set for PAOK’s match against Granada (MD.2). In PAOK’s previous UEL tie against Omonia, PAOK looked very shaky at the start, conceding a 16th minute goal thanks to Eric Beautheac. However, PAOK did respond with a 54th minute goal by Thomas Murg. As a PAOK fan it was nice to see your team not give up and play until the final whistle. For Granada the start was also somewhat shaky, as Granada conceded a goal just before half-time through Mario Gotze(PSV). As a neutral it was quite nice to see Mario Gotze regain his form. However, it was not PSV’s night. Granada came thundering back with 2 goals from Molina and Machis respectively. Overall for Granada it was a majestic away display. Prediction of each team’s respective line-up and Formation: Prediction of PAOK’s line-up  (3-4-3) Z. Zivkovic(GK) Michailidis,Varela, Ingason, Giannoulis, Esiti, Schwab, Wague,  A.Zivkovic...

Porto vs Olympiakos, Champions League Matchday 2 Preview   By Stephen Kountourou After an eventful Match Day 1 of the Champions League group stage, there is much excitement and anticipation, from fans, for the next round of fixtures in Europe's elite competition. This can certainly be said for Olympiakos supporters.  After another memorable European night in Piraeus with a late 1-0 victory over Marseille, despite the absence of fans, Thrylos have started their campaign in the best possible way. All eyes, including my own, are now on the upcoming clash with their second opponents, Portuguese champions FC Porto.  The Erythrolefki will be travelling to the Estádio do Dragão in Porto for their first Champions League group stage away fixture of the season, which will take place on Tuesday at 8:00PM BST. This will be an equally important affair, not only for the chance of obtaining a second Olympiakos win, but also with a number of Portuguese native players in the Greek champio...

The Best Possible Start By Christian Leggas  Olympiacos have gotten their UEFA Champions League campaign off to the-most-ideal start imaginable, as a late goal from Ahmed Hassan turned out to be a due reward for a very well-organised and well-structured performance.   Two minutes into the game, and Olympiacos were nearly behind when Andreas Bouchalakis got forced into an errant pass due to some high-Marseille pressing. The ball eventually fell to Marseille midfielder Morgan Sanson, but his attempt to catch Olympiacos goalkeeper José Sá off his line with a lobbed-strike went astray and out for a goal-kick. Much to the relief of Bouchalakis.   Three minutes after that Sanson chance, Marseille winger Florian Thauvin thought he'd try his luck from a dubious distance with a powerful left-footed curling effort, it beat José Sá, but it also had the goal beaten too.   Olympiacos had their first chance of the game just before the tenth minute-mark. As Yann M'Vila latched onto...

Olympiakos, Champions League Group Stage Build Up By Steve Kountourou Now that the International break is once again done and dusted, we return to club football and just as excitingly, the European competitions. Sides from all over the continent, while also focusing on their domestic leagues, will be in preparation to face one another in either the Champions League or the Europa League. The same can certainly be said for Olympiakos. After hearing news of our players performing well for their respective national team, I know I am as excited as any to see Thrylos come back together again, after a couple of weeks away, and so case our talented side on Europe's biggest stage. But the task, like most years if far from easy, for lying in wait in Group C are three sides that could define our seasons for all the right or all the wrong reasons. For the few that may not know by now, they are Premier League giants Manchester City, Portuguese champions Porto and Ligue 1 runners up Marseille.  ...

The PAO Spanish revolution that lasted 6 months.   By John Koutsogiannis The inevitable happened on July of this year with Giorgos Donis agreeing to part ways with Giannis Alafouzos as the Panathinaikos FC head coach after the Super League playoffs concluded. In two years Donis was able to introduce several young Greek players from their youth teams on to the first team Panathinaikos side that finished in 4th place after the 2019 season.  This exit left Xavi Roca the Panathinaikos Technical Director in need of a coach. Many names were mentioned, ultimately Dany Poyatos was hired this past summer. The hope was that he along with Roca could develop the existing Panathinaikos youth as well as bring players which could blend in.  Panathinaikos fans were salivating that perhaps these two Spaniards can bring in players that could perform as well as get Panathinaikos back to Europe.  They both said what Panathinaikos fans wanted to hear but unfortunately the talk was bigger...

An Alternate View of the Ethniki Omada By George We are drawing and winning and the team looks like they are a bunch of guys who are together and harmonious but there's still some things that aren't being addressed properly and they will eventually come back and haunt the coach. This isn't a witch hunt - I believe John van't Schip is doing a formidable job considering the circumstances which lead to his appointment but we should always be striving for better or at the very least, know the direction we are moving in with clarity. Our inability to kill off teams Yes, this has been an issue for as long as we can remember. Even with our Euro 2004 squad we couldn't kill teams off. But saying all this, it is still an issue and with the Nations League group we are in, if we are gonna be honest this needs to be addressed. Yes, Otto and Santos could only scrape winning results against minnows too but they showed that they could also get results against the top nations too.  ...

Better Finishing is Mandatory for the Future   By Christian Leggas  It was a night of predominant frustration for the Ethniki, as they failed to secure the all-important three points against an arguably depleted Kosovo side. Greece's first real chance came through Petros Mantalos after fifteen minutes after he got on the end of a cross from Dimitris Giannoulis. Unfortunately, his header could not dip beneath the bar. Two minutes later, Greece got awarded an ideal chance to score, as Dimitris Limnios appeared to be dragged back, albeit very slightly inside the penalty area. The referee agreed and awarded the home side a penalty. Unfortunately, though, captain of the night Anastasios Bakasetas was unable to convert, as he saw his powerful, yet too-central penalty-kick kept out by Kosovan keeper Arijanet Muric. Shortly after the Bakasetas penalty miss, some neat teamwork from Petros Mantalos and Vangelis Pavlidis resulted in the latter unleashing a fierce shot. That could only ri...