After 8 days of intensive lessons on his principles of the game with several hours spent on tactics, Igor Tudor wanted to see his players –even against lowly Koot Azur- take possession of the ball, press hard immediately after losing it, keep their lines close in the 3-5-2 formation in defence and attack. Goals and attacking plays were of secondary importance, but he got to see that as well.

The final 3-1 result and PAOK’s performance in several patches of the game satisfied the Croatian coach. But the injury of Stefanos Athanasiadis clouded his satisfaction. In the first occasion of the match, in the 8th minute, the skipper of PAOK sustained a fractured toe in his effort to steal the ball from a defender.

Dimitris Salpingidis, who took Klaus’s place on the pitch, leveled the match with a tackle after Stelios Kitsiou’s shot (Koot Azur had scored the opener in the 7th minute). Κyriakos Savvidis gave PAOK the lead with a simple tap-in in the open goal following a fine assist by Lucas. The third goal was identical with Maarten Martens as scorer. From then on, PAOK were denied by woodwork 4 times (!) (Salpingidis, Facundo Pereyra, Martens and Lucas) and carved out more chances to score.

PAOK looked quite advanced in tactical awareness, having adopted Tudor’s teachings, but they still need work –as expected- in their physical condition and overall function. Their legs are sore from heavy training and they can’t yet master the intense pressing their coach asks them to.

It was their first friendly that helped them get in competitive rhythm. Their evolution will be more evident in the upcoming matches against VfL Bochum and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

PAOK’s line-up:

Glykos (61′ Melissas), Kitsiou (61′ Κ.Savvidis), Mystakidis (61′ Korovesis), Vítor (61′ Skondras), Costa (61′ Charisis), Tzavellas (61′ Pougouras), Maduro (61′ Kace), Golasa (61′ Martens), Pelkas, Pereyra (61′ Lucas), Athanasiadis (8′ Salpingidis, 70′ Mystakidis).