paokfc.gr/First Team/Facts & Figures: PAOK vs. Levski Sofia
Facts & Figures: PAOK vs. Levski Sofia
Ahead of the second leg of PAOK’s UEFA Europa Conference League 2nd qualifying round tie with Levski Sofia, paokfc.gr puts you in the picture about the background to the match against the Bulgarians.
- PAOK are seeking to qualify with an upset in the Conference League qualifiers, just like last season, where again they started with a 2-1 defeat against Bohemians and went on to win 2-0 at the Toumba to claim a ticket for the next phase.
- In last year’s 16 matches in the Conference League, PAOK recorded five defeats, with two of them coming in the quarter-final stage against Marseille. In those 16 matches overall, PAOK won eight and there were also three draws.
- The 2-0 deficit is not a scoreline particularly in PAOK’s favor so far, as three times in the past the club has found itself in a similar position of looking for an upset after a 2-0 away loss, and failed to qualify on all three occasions, although those previous ties were against clearly stronger opponents.
- In 1981 it was against Eintracht Frankfurt that they came closest to an upset than at any other time. A 2-0 defeat in Frankfurt was followed by a 2-0 victory for the Double-headed Eagle and the qualification was lost on penalties with a final score of 5-4 in favor of the Germans.
- In 1992-93, there were the matches against Paris Saint-Germain, where the 2-0 loss in the first match was followed by one of PAOK’s toughest nights, as there were crowd disturbances which led to a multi-year ban from Europe.
- The last 2-0 defeat was in 1998-99 by Rangers, which was followed by a 0-0 draw at the Toumba and elimination.
- There was another two-goal loss in 1985-86 against Verona, in the Italian team’s maiden season in the European cups, and in the return leg there was another defeat, this time by a 2-1 scoreline.
- PAOK have twice turned around two-goal first-leg defeats also though, after two home defeats by Wacker in 1991-92 and by Metalist in 2013-14.
- However, until now PAOK had also previous experience of facing a team from Bulgaria and managed to qualify for the next phase. In 1983-84 for the first round of the UEFA Cup they faced Lokomotiv Plovdiv. The Double-headed Eagle prevailed 2-1 away from home in the first match, thanks to the goals scored by Christos Dimopoulos and Vassilis Georgopoulos, while in the 72nd minute Sadkov reduced the deficit with a penalty.
- In the second leg at the Toumba, Eranosian put Lokomotiv ahead in the 13th minute, but goals from Giorgos Kostikos (44′), Giorgos Skartados (68′) and Christos Dimopoulos (75′) made the final score 3-1 in favor of PAOK.
- In the second round of that tournament, PAOK faced Bayern Munich, and after two goalless draws between the two teams, PAOK were eliminated by a score of 9-8 on penalties.
