In a span of three days, PAOK play their second official match of the season, against AEL Kalloni for the Super League. Angelos Anastasiadis spoke to Nova and wished for a spectacular and uneventful season. Here is what the coach of PAOK had to say:

“It’s the opening game of the league. Let me wish for a good season, without violent incidents. I wish also for the fans to be better than ever. For that to happen though, we must be better than ever. By ‘we’, I mean the main actors, the players, the coaches, the club people, we all must see to it that the fans don’t get ‘crazy’ in the stands. We must refrain from providing them with the ammunition to engage in unacceptable behaviour”.

It’s the beginning of the season for us, after an official game in Europe, where we got a bad result. We are a big club, we have high expectations and victories are our priority. We play at home on Sunday and we must do whatever it takes to win”.

– PAOK are a new squad, practically being built from scratch. So what is your priority, to win titles or to create a team for the future?

“It’s tough to speak about such things in Greece. It would be great if we could discuss such issues. PAOK are a big club and expectations are automatic. PAOK must always aim to win titles and fight for top place. We are expected to fight for the top, starting –as I said earlier- from the Sunday game”.

– It’s a peculiar match, as the stands will be empty due to the ban imposed on PAOK. What is your impression of AEL Kalloni? Do you believe that the absence of fans will have an impact on the game?

“Whether one plays at home or away, it’s bad to play in front of empty stands. But we must do it. What matters is for us to be in form. We don’t know our rivals very well, maybe they know us better, as they have watched us play this season. It’s our duty to learn more stuff about them until Sunday and prepare our troops”.