Nothing is the same 365 days later. Methodical Lucescu asked for a year and promised that the team would find their way.

His debut at the helm was far from positive. A shocking elimination at the hands of modest Östersunds FK and a series of bad results in the league made for a cloudy start. PAOK displayed attractive football, but couldn’t land the desired results.

Everything changed one December evening in Xanthi. Against his former side, Lucescu saw his team push the ‘start’ button. Games of destiny.

Since then the “Double-Headed Eagle” moved to another level. They played the best football in Greece, won the league title deservedly on the pitch, but it was taken from them by some judges. PAOK also defended their Greek Cup, with a second consecutive final victory over AEK Athens, this time round in the Olympic Stadium of Athens. The Thessaloniki side have also started the current season on the right foot, recording three victories in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

All of the above bear the seal of the Romanian tactician, who sees his troops bring out everything he asks of them in his demanding training sessions. He sees them play domination football and look all opponents straight in the eye.

Here is the photostory of Lucescu’s first year at the helm of the “Double-Headed Eagle”, compiled by paokfc.gr.