With acquired speed he enters Panathinaikos in the last closed queue of the first round playoffs. The Greens go to Tumba for the Sunday derby with PAOK with points and a mental boost that gave them two consecutive (and very important) victories over him Ari and his Olympiacu, knowing full well that if they come back with a win, they will jump on the road to the title. On a rare occasion, Mr. Yovanovitch he is counting on all his players, except of course Aitor, Trouillet and Froku, who will be back next season.

Sarliya again went through the program without problems and is available, as is Ioannidis, who is back in full swing after a special offload program. Both are unlikely to make it into the starting XI, with Magnusson and Sporar considered favorites for their spot after a great performance in the derby against Olympiacos.

Sunday’s derby is also very important for PAOK, even if the title hunt looks hopeless as it chases two teams at +9 and a third at +3. His main goal is to finish third so that he has an airbag to go to Europa Leaguewhether he wins the Cup or not.

And to stay within range of a 3rd Olympiacos, he will aim to win without letting the disappointment of two straight losses that took him from -3 to a distant -9 overwhelm him. A big loss will be the absence of Narey and Sastre, but on the other hand, El Kaduri has entered a normal rhythm and it is logical to count on him. Organized PAOK fans yesterday celebrated his 97th birthday in their own way… noisily in the center of Thessaloniki.