The situation was clear. AZ Alkmaar, finished fourth in last season’s Eredivisie, stepped out on the pitch with no changes regarding their 2018-19 squad, in advanced preparation level and with two friendly encounters already under their belt.

PAOK on the other hand featured many new faces, a coaching staff with just two days at the helm, two different line-ups per half and a new formation by Abel Ferreira who made his unofficial debut on their bench.

The Portuguese coach decided to go with the “old guard” of the “Double-Headed Eagle” in the first half.

PAOK started strongly and dominated in the first half. They created several opportunities to score, either in open play or set pieces and, most importantly, they were consistent in defence.

The Dutch side managed to approach just twice PAOK’s box, but on their second opportunity, in the 42nd minute, they scored the deciding goal.

After the interval, AZ Alkmaar didn’t make many changes, as opposed to PAOK who fielded 11 new faces, among them debutants Miroslav Stoch, Rodrigo Soares, Douglas Augusto, Živko Živković and Enea Mihaj.

The “Double-Headed Eagle” overcame a 10-minute pressure by their rivals and held well at the back, while remaining busy upfront. In the last 30 minutes, they enjoyed a few good chances to get on the scoreboard, but to no avail.

Abel Ferreira was happy to see his team respond well to continuous changes, his players eager for a passionate display, and he drew many useful conclusions ahead of the rest of preseason.

PAOK line-up:

Melissas (46′ Živković), Matos (46′ Rodrigo), Varela (46′ Mihaj), Chatziisaias (46′ Crespo), Giannoulis (46′ Deligiannidis, 85′ Tsiggaras), Kaçe (46′ Mišić), El Kaddouri (46′ Douglas), Biseswar (46′ Henrique), Jabá (46′ Limnios), Akpom (46′ Markovski), Gaitanidis (46′ Stoch).