Super League: Top derby AEK-Panathinaikos at OPAP Arena, test for Olympic against Aris

The Athenian derby between AEK and Panathinaikos in New Philadelphia dominates the program of the 7th, packed matchday for the Play Offs of the Super League championship. Olympiacos goes to Thessaloniki, PAOK to the capital of Fthiotida.

As fate would have it, the match at the OPAP Arena cannot be ruled out to decide the champion for this season. AEK is ahead of Panathinaikos by one point and in case of victory, they will make a jump to win the title. Of course, the same applies in the case of a “double” for Fatih Terim’s team which, for the time being, is +4 ahead of PAOK and +5 ahead of Olympiakos who, however, have one game less.

The “yellow and black” made it 2/2 against Aris, however, finding strong resistance in the Sunday (21/4) game of Thessaloniki, while the “greens” did not face particular problems against Lamia. It is worth mentioning that AEK and Panathinaikos have, so far, drawn all the results between them (1-2 at Leoforo and 2-2 at New Philadelphia for the regular season, 2-1 at “Apostolos Nikolaidis” for the Play Offs). Maybe the ties play their role too…

Lamia-PAOK

At “Athanassios Diakos”, PAOK will try to put a “stop” on the last negative results. Razvan Lucescu’s team, after being eliminated by Club Brugge and in fact with two defeats (1-0 at “Jan Bridel Stadium” and 0-2 at Toumba), experienced a third consecutive defeat, this time by Olympiakos in “Georgios Karaiskakis”, with 2-1. There is no scope for losses for the “black and whites”, especially since they will face a team that has the ultimate in defeats in the mini league, most recently the heavy 5-0 by Panathinaikos and even in Lamia.

Olympiacos against Aris

Finally, in Thessaloniki, Olympiacos will attempt to extend its winning streak by playing against Aris, who hope to stop their own negative streak. The “red and whites”, after the boyish qualification in Polis against Fenerbahce, won 2-1 against PAOK in Faliro, staying firmly within the title’s grasp. Of course, the first semi-final of the UEFA Europa Conference League against Aston Villa (2/5, 22:00 – “Villa Park”) is on the minds of Jose Luis Mendiliber’s players, but there is still time before then. Thessaloniki, on the other hand, although they fought until the end, were defeated 2-1 by AEK and this was the fourth consecutive defeat in the Play Offs. Given that, Akis Manzios will not want his team to reach the final of the Greek Cup (against Panathinaikos, probably on 18/5) with such a mentality.