Brandon Thomas

PAOK and Panathinaikos scored important European wins on Thursday and are close to qualifying to the next round, while Olympiakos conceded a goalless draw at home and lost some ground.

In the Europa League PAOK dismissed visiting Ferencvaros 5-0 in Thessaloniki and is looking good for a spot in the playoffs. It has seven points from six games.

PAOK hosted Viktoria Plzeň at Toumba Stadium for the 3rd matchday of the Europa League’s League Phase, with Razvan Lucescu making several changes to the lineup, six out of eleven compared to the match against AEK.

PAOK has won the fourth championship in its history after beating Aris 2-1 away on Sunday and edged out holder AEK by two points, in the most dramatic finale in the history of the Super League.

AEK and PAOK emerged victorious from their Sunday challenges at the Super League playoffs, beating Olympiakos and Panathinaikos respectively to pull away from their defeated rivals.

PAOK and Olympiakos produced historic reversals of their poor results a week earlier to win handsomely on Thursday in the return leg games and advance to the quarterfinals of the Europa Conference League. That was a rare night of glory in Europe for Greek soccer this season.

PAOK thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 in Toumba and overturned its 2-0 deficit from seven nights earlier.

Lamia inflicted a shocking loss on Olympiakos at the start of the new year in the Super League, while the other three title rivals scored comfortable home wins.

PAOK and Panathinaikos produced impressive displays on the road in the midweek Super League fixtures, while AEK and Olympiakos drooped two points each and lost ground to their rivals.

Panathinaikos dropped two precious points at home against PAOK on Wednesday, but will not pay for it as AEK also stumbled at home against Olympiakos, leaving the situation unchanged at the top of the Super League table.