Salvation Lies Within: The Relegation Round Midseason Report

Salvation Lies Within: The Relegation Round Midseason Report

By Nick Gargano

Thirteen matches down, thirteen matches left.  The regular season in Greece’s top flight football league is halfway over, and just like at the end of last year, the top six and bottom eight teams will be split into play-off and play-out rounds to decide their fate heading into next season.  If you’re at all familiar with what Greek football has looked like in recent years, you already know that nothing is ever certain.  

Mid-table Clashes: Asteras, Volos, OFI, Atromitos, Giannina and Apollon 

Each club occupying positions 5-11 has a legitimate shout at the play-off on paper, as the gap separating 5 and 11 is only six points.  Without much room for error, we should see the deeper teams with more proven attacks separate themselves from the pack.  Panathinaikos has hit its stride under new coach Laszlo Boloni and only looks poised to continue their upward trend after an abysmal start to the season.  Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that only one of the following clubs can make it out of the play-out round and finish 6th:

6. Asteras Tripolis: Chemistry, work ethic and confidence are doing wonders for the Arkades.  Argentine striker (and a Greek Super League legend in the making) Geronimo Barrales and a solid supporting cast have provided coach Milan Rastavac with just enough firepower to be able to get three points in the games where they should be getting them.

7. Volos NPS: No club can say that their match against Volos this season was a walk in the park.  They have a high flying attack with young Greek star Tasos Douvikas leading their lines, but they just can’t seem to take advantage of opportunities and pick up wins.  They lead the league with seven draws, and they’ll have to start winning games to separate themselves from the pack. 

8. OFI: The Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium was once a fortress where OFI would almost always beat even the most in-form opponents, but the Cretans are missing their fans dearly during the pandemic.  And even though star midfielder Adil Nabi is out with a long-term injury, OFI’s luck should change.  Last year’s protagonist Kosmas Tsilianidis is set to return from his long absence, and with the worst of the pandemic presumably behind us, we could see their fans return later in the season.  

9. Atromitos: Coach Damir Canadi and GK Andreas Gianniotis returned to Peristeri this season looking to recreate the magic of the 2017-18 season, but they’ve looked pretty ordinary so far.  The team lacks the discipline (early red cards took them out of two close games they ended up losing) and composure (they allowed 10-man Aris to steal a draw from them late in the game) to pick up three points when they need it.  They have potential, but they need to figure it out. 

10. PAS Giannina: Newly promoted PAS are teaching “smaller” Greek clubs a lesson so far this season.  Instead of doing the easy thing after sacking Giannis Petrakis and hiring one of the usual low budget suspects in the Greek “coaching carousel” who bounce from team to team, PAS dared to lure in a young and innovative Greek-German coach in Argiris Giannikis.  Their key players have stuck together after being relegated, and the club’s vision since then has paid off.  

11. Apollon Smyrnis: You could probably call Apollon PAS’ polar opposite, as they hired the father of the “coaching carousel,” Georgios Paraschos, to guide them through this campaign.  But their new signings are proving to be impressive ones (players like Baxsevanidis, Lisgaras, and Tsabouris all have loads of Greek football experience) who have rallied around Paraschos to find themselves in a decent position heading into 2021.  

Early Makings of a Relegation Scrap: Panaitolikos, AE Larisa, and Lamia  

12. Panaitolikos: Like OFI, the Agrinio based side have a respectable group of supporters who they have dearly missed this season during the pandemic.  They were lucky not to be relegated last year when Xanthi suffered their point deduction, and coach Traianos Dellas has his work cut out for him this year- especially considering the good seasons PAS and Apollon are having.  

13. AE Larissa: This season has been a disaster for AEL; locked out of their state-of-the-art (by Greek standards) home stadium because of infamous owner Alexis Kougias’ antics, a head coach sacking that took the team nowhere, and a new wave of failed “tourist” signings who may spend no more than six months in Greece.  The only true bright spot has been young gun forward Pinakas. 

14. Lamia: So far, Lamia is poised to have one of the worst seasons ever in the Greek top flight.  Since their ascent to the top flight in 2017, Lamia has always possessed a fighting spirit even when many considered them down and out.  Even though they are only four points away from safety, they have a string of tough matches to start 2021 and I can’t see them making up the ground.  

Predictions    

The race for the final playoff spot should be incredibly tight, but I think Asteras should retain their position in 6th place.  OFI will just miss out and finish in 7th.  PAS and Atromitos will finish without a real shot at the playoff, but comfortable from a relegation threat in 8th and 9th.  Volos should also be safe in 10th, while Panaitolikos and Apollon will narrowly avoid the relegation playoff at 11th and 12th.  Finally, AEL should slot into the two legged relegation playoff spot at 13th, and Lamia’s all but sealed fate of relegation will be confirmed at 14th.  

*Keep in mind that Greece’s second tier league, the Super League 2 hasn’t even started yet.  So who on God’s green earth knows when the relegation playoff will be held, which SL2 team will feature, and what it will even look like.         

Hellas Football 

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