It’s a beautiful afternoon in Thessaloniki. 20 degrees, people stretch their bare feet on the shore facing the Thermaic Gulf and take advantage of the sun. In the center and next to the shore, over 15,000 runners from all corners of the world and of all ages are competing in the “Alexander the Great” marathon!
No one seems to care about the most important event of the day. As soon as 4 o’clock comes, the terraces are stormed by PAOK fans. Dressed in black, with beers in their hands, the fanatical supporters of the most beloved team in Thessaloniki warm up their engines and clear their voices.
Around 5:30 we enter the metro. “PAOK to the end, PAOK to the end” begins to echo from the train cars, some of them ultramodern, the city has been benefiting from a metro line worthy of the century we live in for 4 months. Destination “Papafi”, the closest station to Toumba.
A 12-minute walk follows, and the ultras gather from all directions on the boulevard leading to the stadium. An hour before the match, the sidewalks are cramped, all the surrounding terraces are full, and the barbecues with “lamb țiops” and souvlaki are sizzling. Everything under the close supervision of the gendarmerie. In Greece, at such matches, guests have not been able to move their fans for years.
At 7:25 p.m. sharp, the stadium is almost full. The only empty seats are in the corners between the stands and the lawns. The players enter the field and the hell starts. Lucescu and Mendilibar are the last to come out of the locker rooms, and on the steps they exchange greetings and smiles.
Nothing is heard around. By the time I ask a photographer for information and raise the camera to my eyes, it is already 1-0. Konstantelias is put in a one-on-one position with the goalkeeper by Chalov and executes Tzolakis in the 5th minute, and the requested information comes in writing, even though we are next to each other. The cold descends over the Toumba temple, we can no longer keep our hands on the cameras and we put on our gloves.
I can’t quite get myself out of my yawning eyes and ears and it’s 2-0. Mady Camara scores after a cross coming from Zivkovic in the 12th minute. From here, the spectacle remains only in the stands, the goal attempts become rare, and the football field becomes a field for a battle of attrition. Lucescu withdraws the lines and goes with the flow. We enter the locker rooms with a two-goal advantage for PAOK.
After the break, the guests are lucky. In the 52nd minute Yaremchuk receives a pass on the edge of offside, over the home defense, crosses from the left side, the ball hits the PAOK central defender Michailidis and enters the goal. Lucescu protests, but in vain, it was not offside.
It is 2-1 and Mendilibar hopes for a comeback, only that El Kaabi and Yaremchuk calmly miss a great chance in the 61st minute.
In the 74th minute, spirits heat up, Yaremchuk escapes alone after a mistake by the PAOK defenders, but is fouled on the 16-meter line by Camara. Being in the position of the last defender, he receives a red card and leaves his teammates trembling in the end.
Nothing happens anymore, Olympiacos attacks chaotically, PAOK defends by the book.
It ends 2-1, for Lucescu it is the second victory out of two in the play-offs and the battle for the second place in the Champions League tightens, after Panathinaikos defeated AEK Athens 3-1. Olympiacos leads the way with 63 points, followed by Panathinaikos and AEK with 53 each and PAOK with 52.
