It’s a history that counts 70 years to date. A history written mainly in the Attica peninsula. One two-legged final and six one-match finals, with Olympiacos having the upper hand counting five victories against PAOK’s two. The Double-headed Eagle was the winner in the last meeting of the two teams in the final of 20 years ago.

The two clubs have made a habit of meeting in the final at the opening of a decade, as they have done it again in 1951, 1971, 1981 and 2001, and now of course in 2021.

This will be the first time that the two teams will face each other in a final at the OAKA, since the previous finals between the two clubs have been held three times in Nea Philadelphia, twice at the «Georgios Karaiskakis», and once at the «Apostolos Nikolaidis».

Let’s have a look in detail at what happened in the previous finals between the two teams.

1951

The first meeting between PAOK and Olympiacos in the Greek Cup was in the final of 1951. On March 11, 1951, they faced each other at Panathinaikos’ stadium on Alexandras Avenue, just over 500 supporters then making the difficult journey from Thessaloniki to be in the stands.

Olympiacos prevailed 4-0 (27′ Mouratis, 66′ Darivas, 75′, 80′ Drossos).

PAOK’s starting XI:

Lykaris, Patakas, Arvanitis, Psomas, Golemas, Gogos, Vassiliadis, Mouratidis, Tzinopoulos, Papadakis, Emmanoualidis.

1971

It took exactly twenty years for the next Greek Cup final between PAOK and Olympiacos and this time the match took place at the «Georgios Karaiskakis» on June 9, 1971. Angelis opened the scoring in the 19th minute for Olympiacos, Youtsos made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute, while Sarafis reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 47th minute, only for Pampoulis to make it 3-1 after 82 minutes.

PAOK’s starting XI:

Chatziioannou, Gounaris, Papadopoulos, Chatziantoniou, Foundoukidis, Terzanidis (5′ Bellis), Mantzourakis (46′ Stavridis), Sarafis, Paridis, Koudas, Aslanidis.

1973

Two years after their previous meeting in the final, and this time with PAOK being in the position of defending its title as cup holder, they met again at the «Georgios Karaiskakis» with Angelis’ goal in the 46th minute decidin the match in favor of Olympiacos.

PAOK’s starting XI:

Stefas, Gounaris, Pellios, Iosifidis, Fountoukidis, Terzanidis, Paridis, Sarafis, Apostolidis, Koudas (81′ Panagis), Lazos (73′ Aslanidis).

1974

This meeting marked the second consecutive final between the two sides in the competition, and this time it took place in Nea Philadelphia. On Sunday, June 16, 1974, the match was decided by a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw (50′ Paridis, 72′ Aslanidis – 19′ Triantaphyllos, 80′ Kritikopoulos) at the end of extra time.

PAOK goalkeeper Stefas had earlier rescued his team by saving a penalty by Karavitis in the 66th minute.

In the penalty shootout, Poupakis and Persidis missed for Olympiacos, and Apostolidis delivered the final blow with a well-taken penalty to make the final shootout score 4-3, since earlier in the shootout only George Koudas had been thwarted by Poupakis.

PAOK’s starting XI:

Stefas, Gounaris, Tsiligiridis, Iosifidis, Pellios, Terzanidis (113′ Fountoukidis), Paridis, Sarafis, Apostolidis, Koudas, Aslanidis (95′ Anastasiadis).

1981

Another final that took place at AEK’s Nea Philadelphia ground with PAOK having previously booked their place in the final with a two-legged semi-final win over AEK.

On June 21, 1981, however, PAOK lost 3-1 (18’ Damanakis [own goal], 61’ Orfanos, 92’ Kousoulakis – 63’ Damanakis).

PAOK’s starting XI:

Fourtoula, Gounaris, Iosifidis, Salamon, Sigas, Damanakis, Kermanidis (68′ Triantaphyllidis), Georgopoulos, Guerino, Koudas (75′ Vasilakos), Kostikos

1992

In the history of the Greek Cup there have been only two finals decided by two-legged ties, and one of those finals involved PAOK and Olympiacos.

The first match took place on May 20, 1992 at the Toumba and ended in a 1-1 draw (52′ Skartados – 64′ Tsalouchidis).

PAOK’s starting XI in the first leg:

Gabrits, Economidis (63′ Basbanas), Plitsis, Alexiou, Mitsibonas, Lagonidis, Borbokis, Skartados, Djurdjevic (59′ Anastasiadis), Toursounidis, Leontiadis

In the second leg, Olympiacos prevailed 2-0 (21′ Litovchenko, 62′ Tsalouchidis).

PAOK’s starting XI in the second leg:

Gabrits, Economidis, Malioufas (73′ Mitoglou), Alexiou, Mitsibonas, Lagonidis, Borbokis, Skartados, Djurdjevic (46′ Kalogeropoulos), Toursounidis, Anastasiadis

2001

Yet another final against Olympiacos in Athens, once again in Nea Philadelphia, but this time it was PAOK who went home with the trophy after beating the Red and Whites via a 4-2 scoreline.

Dusan Bajevic’s Double-headed Eagle side came out onto the pitch with a twinkle in their eye and a spring in their step and took an early lead in the fourth minute through Egomitis. In the 31st minute Borbokis made it 2-0, while at the beginning of the second half Georgiadis made it 3-0.

Olympiacos reduced the deficit through Djordjevic in the 79th minute, but in the 85th minute Nalitzis put the seal on the win, with Choutos adding a consolation strike in the second minute of added time.

PAOK’s starting XI:

Kovic, Borbokis, Venetidis, Katsambis, Ambonsa (46′ Koulakiotis), Udeze, Georgiadis (79′ Nalitzis), Egomitis, Okkas (90′ Spasic), Kafes, Konstantinidis.