Olympiakos vs Asteras Tripolis
All eyes will be critically cast on Olympiakos this Saturday evening as they prepare for a potentially difficult home encounter against last season’s surprise packet, Asteras Tripolis. The defending champions were embarrassed in midweek as they were dumped unceremoniously out of the UEFA Champions League by Cypriot neighbours Anorthosis Famagusta, condemning the Thrylos to an entire season in the UEFA Cup.
The question now is how under-fire manager Ernesto Valverde will respond. Anything less than a convincing win against Tripolis will see unprecedented pressure heaped upon the former Espanyol coach.
Asteras, meanwhile, have enjoyed a rapid rise to the top of Greek football after climbing four divisions since 2001. Last season – their debut in the top flight – saw them finish seventh and record memorable home victories over all three of the Athenian giants and traditional powerhouses PAOK.
There have been personnel changes since last season, however, with manager Paulo Campos replaced this season by experienced Portuguese coach Carlos Carvalhal, who couldn’t have asked for a more difficult start to his reign at the helm of the Arcadian outfit.
It has been a busy off-season for Tripolis who have seen transfer movement in both directions for the club, with the likes of new signings Jaouad Zairi (formerly of Sochaux and Nantes), Ricardo Estevens (Reggina), Bruno Urribarri (Boca Juniors) and Adrian Bastia (Racing Club) just some of the players set to make their debut after being named in the squad to face the Erythrolefki.
Meanwhile, Valverde’s side is slightly weakened by the absence of the injured Predrag Djordjevic and high-profile summer signing Diogo, who is experiencing administrative difficulties with his work permit. The absence of the two might just make this the perfect opportunity for Carvalhal to steer his side to a surprise result, though they themselves will be without star player Horacio Ramon Cardozo.
OFI Crete vs PAOK
It has been a near-perfect pre-season for PAOK both on and off the pitch, with a series of high-profile signings and impressive results, including a 3-1 victory over Serie A side Udinese at the Toumba.
Manager Fernando Santos will be desperate to start off this season with an away victory, as it was the club’s poor form away from the Toumba (they won one game away from home all season, against last-placed Apollon Kalamarias) that condemned them to disappointing ninth on the Greek Super League table.
Tonight, Santos will probably hand the likes of Muslimovic, Pablo Garcia, Contreras, Chalkias and Ivic their competitive debuts for the club, all of whom have considerable domestic and international pedigree, reflecting a highly successful off-season recruitment drive for the Dikefalos tou Vorra. The Portuguese manager did not name Cote D’Ivoire attacker Ibrahima Bakayoko in the squad to travel to Crete, however, and new loan signing from Panathiniakos Filipos Darlas also misses out.
After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, OFI have brought in manager František Straka, a former Czechoslovakian international who played in the 1990 World Cup.
Straka has dealt with the exits of strikers Nuafor, Drulic and Petropoulos during the off-season by bringing in Aleksndar Pesic, Dame N’Doye (Panathinaikos), Esteban Herrera of Veroia and 27-year-old Hungarian international Péter Orosz, all of whom apart from Pesic have been named in Straka’s squad for the PAOK match.
It will be a conspicuously new-look OFI side this season, whose other major losses include Brazilian Leozinho and Bulgarian Vladimir Gadzhev, as Straka tries to instill some consistency in a club who have been relatively starved of success since the days of legendary German manager Egen Gerard.
Panthrakikos vs Ergotelis
Newly promoted Panthrakikos will welcome Cretan side Ergotelis to the Komotini Stadium after having lost their top-scorer from last season – Van Es – during the summer. They will be hoping that new recruit from Espanyol, striker Aleix Vidal, will be able to fill the role vacated by the departure of their main striker.
As is typical of newly promoted clubs, the summer has seen the departure of eleven players and the acquisition of seven. The club have also appointed a new manager in the form of experienced Belgian Emilio Ferrera, who guided Xanthi to eighth place in the Greek Super League last season. He will need to bring a sense of unity and understanding to a squad whose nucleus appears to have been altered entirely.
Ergotelis, meanwhile, were one point away from relegation last season and have been dealt a massive blow ahead of the start of the new campaign with the loss of key midfielder Dimitris Kiliaras to Panionios. These are the types of matches that Ferrera’s side will simply have to win if they are to have any chance of avoiding the drop this season. Before the league has even started, do we dare consider this match a relegation ‘six-pointer’?
Aris vs Levadiakos
Aris will be looking to bounce back after their heart-breaking exit from the UEFA Cup at the hands of NK Slaven Koprivnica on Thursday. Enrique Hernandez will begin his first full season in charge of the Thessaloniki outfit, with whom he previously enjoyed a spell as caretaker before Dusan Bajevic was appointed head coach last season.
The former La Liga manager will look toward inspirational centre-forward Segio Koke to lead by example on Sunday, as the club look to build upon an impressive fourth-place finish last season. The loss of defender Avraam Papadopoulos to Olympiakos over the summer was much-publicised, however, and it was suggested to be the catalyst for the acrimonious exit of Bajevic from the God of War.
South American duo Alejandro Lembo and Roberto Battion have been denied the opportunity to make their Greek Super League debuts by injury. However, former Valencia man Mario Regueiro, ex-Argentinos Juniors striker Alejandro Delorte, Bosnia and Herzegovina international Sanel Jahic, Brazilian Thiago Gentil, Poland international Piotr Włodarczyk and Frenchman Valentin Roberge could all potentially make their first league appearances for the club after being named in Hernandez’s squad to face Levadiakos.
No doubt delighted to have avoided relegation upon their return to the top flight last season, Levadiakos will be hoping 58-year-old Serbian manager Momčilo Vukotić will be able to consolidate on the relative success of last term.
The former Yugoslavia international and FK Partizan legend appears to see the addition of experience as a key element to potential success for Levadiakos, recruiting Euro 2004-winning Greek defender Michalis Kapsis from Cypriot club APOEL and veteran Albanian international Alban Bushi from Apollon Kalamarias, who are 34 and 35 years of age respectively.
They will both need to utilise the full extent of their experience at both international and domestic level if Levadikaos are to walk away from the typically partisan surrounds of the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium with anything but a loss this Sunday.
Iraklis vs Panserraikos
Iraklis will be looking to forget the financial troubles that plagued the club for much of last season as they prepare to face newly promoted Panserraikos at the Lysimachos Kaftanzoglu Stadium on Sunday evening.
Spanish manager Angel Pedraza helped steer the club away from potential disaster last year to a respectable finishing position of 10th on the Greek Super League table. His side will have to start their campaign without the services of two key players from last season: Greece U21 international Giannis Papadopoulos, who moved to Olympiakos, and loaned Valencia midfielder Aarón, who will spend the season with Rangers.
Panserraikos, promoted as champions after a 16-year absence from the top flight, might sense an opportunity against a Papadoupolos-less Iraklis. Notable additions to their squad include FYR Macedonia international Robert Petrov and one-time Chilean international Jose Luis Jerez.
Panionios vs Skoda Xanthi
Panionios host Skoda Xanthi in what should be one of the matches of the round on Sunday. German manager Ewald Lienen is undoubtedly one of the best in Greece at the moment and has created an extremely competitive side in only a short space of time at the Nea Smyrni.
Lienen enters his opening match with one of the most stable squads in the entire competition, with minimal player movement in either direction during the off-season in comparison with other Greek Super League clubs. The German has also added experienced Czech defender Pavel Drsek to his squad, after the 31-year-old agreed to join from Bundesliga side VFL Bochum.
The only major concern for Panionios, who finished an impressive fifth and took part in the play-offs for European places last season, appears to be the impending exit of start striker Rafik Djebbour to one of the ‘Big Three’ Athenian clubs. The proposed move might unsettle Liennen’s squad before what should be a tough opening match.
Although they finished an impressive eighth last season, Xanthi will be devastated by the loss of star striker Tomasz Radzinski after he spent just one season during which he was top-scorer at the club. The loss of the Canadian forward has been compounded by the move of key midfielder Antonis Rikka to AEK, which they hope will be offset by the arrival of Romanian veteran Marius Mitu and Nigeria international striker Victor Agali.
Xanthi have also experienced a somewhat bizarre pre-season, in which manager Ioannis Matzourakis was initially appointed by the club and then fired after an embarrassing 3-1 loss to second division side Pierikos FC. It means the side enter their first league match under the guidance of caretaker manager Stelios Katrakylakis, as the club’s administration look for a new head coach.
AEK vs Panathinaikos
Undoubtedly the biggest match of the round and for AEK, possibly their most important of the season. Traditionally, the Greek domestic title has been decided on derby matches between AEK, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos and though all three clubs will be tested by what has generally been an increase in standard across the Greek domestic scene in recent times, the importance of these sorts of clashes is by no means diminished.
After a disastrous pre-season which has included an early exit from European football, the announced resignation of their president and the sudden exit of arguably their star player, AEK simply must walk away from this match with a positive result and performance. New manager Giorgios Donis has experienced a difficult start to his tenure with the Dikefalos Aetos, with his players struggling to gel and adapt to his favoured 4-3-3 set-up and playing philosophy.
By contrast, Panathinaikos have enjoyed a rebirth both on and off the pitch during the summer, with the club restructuring itself on an administrative front, resulting in a massive financial injection in the squad itself.
New manager Henk Ten Cate has had a successful start to his Panathinaikos career, securing his side’s passage into the UEFA Champions League group stages after wins over Dinamo Tbilisi and Sparta Prague in the qualifying rounds for Europe’s premier football competition.
The Dutchman’s squad has the necessary blend of depth and quality to legitimately challenge Olympiakos for the Greek Super League title, whilst AEK’s roster looks thin despite the acquisition of Greek internationals Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Angelos Basinas.
The former Panathinaikos favourites will face their former club for the first time after returning from successful club careers outside of Greece and the performances of either will determine whether Donis’ side get anything from this match and indeed from the entire season.
In truth, Panathinaikos haven’t played a particularly attractive brand of football during the pre-season, with Ten Cate understandably adopting a more practical style during European competition in particular.
The former Chelsea assistant and Ajax head coach is unlikely to adopt a more attacking philosophy for Sunday’s blockbuster, so an entertaining, open derby encounter probably shouldn’t be expected.
Instead, it will be one that his hard-fought and tense, with the importance of the match clear to both sets of players and coaching staff.
Larissa vs Thrasyvoulos
Larissa begin their post-Donis era with a home match against newly promoted Thrasyvoulos. The Vyssini have experienced a renaissance in Greek football in recent times, after former manager Donis lead them to a Greek Cup success over Panathinaikos and a consequent run in Europe which saw them eliminate English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers over two legs in the UEFA Cup.
Despite the loss of some key personnel over the summer, including Brazilian midfielder Cleyton to Panathinaikos, Greece U21 representative Giorgios Galitsios to Olympiakos, Ibrahima Bakayoko to PAOK and mananger Giorgios Donis to AEK, the club has appointed former Greek international and APOEL manager Marinos Ouzounidis. His arrival has coincided with the acquisition of former English Premier League stars Nolberto Solano and Laurent Robert (the latter doesn’t appear to be fit enough to face Thrasyvoulos), veteran Belgian international Mbo Mpenza from Anderlecht and Christian Weber from Duisburg.
After missing out on a play-off place last season on goal difference, it will be interesting to see whether the club’s summer recruitment drive pays off for the men from Thessaly. They will be without strikers Mpenza and Poland international Marec Zurawski for their opener however but former Newcastle United star Solano should make his competitive debut for the club.
Thrasyvoulos will obviously be focused on avoiding relegation after being promoted to the Super League and, like their former Beta Ethiniki compatriots, might see an opportunity to steal some crucial away points against a team who are largely in transition.
They continue the tradition of heavy player-recruitment following their promotion, with the acquisition of experienced Greek international and former Olympiakos man Dimitris Mavrogenidis and the rather interesting signing of Grenada midfielder Craig Rocastle, who after a spell with the reserve team of Chelsea spent a few years in the lower leagues of England.
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