Under the veil of judges covering the sky and threatening … storms, a mini-championship of 10 matches starts tomorrow, which will decide the issue of the champion title and the distribution of 5 tickets to European competitions. While this is the first time the playoffs have generated so much interest, with absolutely nothing decided at all levels of goals and competition, preliminary refereeing calls have already generated a buzz. The first … the rifle fell from Volos, who threatened to leave with his second team if foreign referees were not appointed in his own games, followed by Vangelis Marinakis with his dual powers as President of Super League 1 and Olympiacos, with an urgent request to the EPO and QED to replace all referees of the three matches of the 1st round with others from the Elite category.

On a competitive level, the premiere includes two derbies focusing mainly on Agia Sophia, where 2nd in the AEK standings welcomes pioneer Panathinaikos a week after his (first) loss there to Olympiacos. The derby will come under the weight of the loss of Mimi Papaioanno. A little earlier, the classic Thessaloniki Ari-PAOK derby will take place, in which the hosts will fight Volos for Europe, and the guests are waiting for a victory to take advantage of the losses that the Athens derby will entail. Volos and Olympiacos have exactly the same goals, as a pair that opens the program.

Results of the 1st round: Sunday: 17.30 Volos – Olympiakos, 19.00 Aris – PAOK, 21.30 AEK – Panathinaikos. Tournament table (26 matches): Panathinaikos 61, AEK 59, Olympiacos 56, PAOK 54, Aris 40, Volos 39.

AEK-Panathinaikos derby dominates – PAOK checks on Kl. Vikelidis” with Aris.

The top two will compete in the Champions League qualifiers, 3rd place in the Europa League qualifier if the lowest-placed team does not win the Cup, and 4th and 5th places qualify for the Conference League if the team win the Cup. in the first 3 places.

The playoffs will start much calmer today, with interest limited to the bottom of the standings, with Ionian, Lamia and Levadeiacos trying to avoid the last two places of (direct) relegation. The other 5 teams have a (theoretically) safe distance and will only interfere because of their egregious mistakes.

Play-off schedule (1st match): Saturday: 17.00 Asteras Tripoli – Panaitolikos, 17.30 OFI – Levadeiakos, 19.30 Atromitos – Ionian, 21.00 Lamia – PAS Ioannina. Tournament table (26 games): Panaitolikos 29, Atromitos 29, OFI 26, Asteras Tr 25, PAS Ioannina 23, Ionikos 18, Lamia 17, Levadeiakos 17.