PAOK HOPES HIT

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PAOK’s hopes of making it into the group stages of the Champions League took a major hit after they were defeated 2-0 by Ukraine’s Metalist Kharkiv in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round. As a result of this defeat, it looks highly unlikely that they will be seen in the group stages. PAOK were playing in front of empty stands after the club was given a ban due to the behaviour of its supporters. PAOK supporters were found guilty by an investigation by UEFA. As a result, the match was seen only by a handful of visiting supporters.

This is the first competitive game of the season for PAOK, and it looked like they were not really interested in the match, according to the best football blog. The Greek club made a number of errors over the course of the 90 min, which were duly punished by Metalist Kharkiv. Miguel Vitor gave away a cheap penalty in the 42nd minute through a handball, which was converted by Marko Devic. Then, it was a moment of individual brilliance from Marko Devic to make it a resounding lead for the Ukrainian club. The 2-0 defeat means that it is now highly unlikely that the Greek club will fancy their chances of appearing in the group stages.

Their manager was understandably disappointed after the match, but he is still hoping that his team can come up with a miracle in the second leg. Metalist could have made sure of the tie even more with a late third goal, but a combination of the woodwork and PAOK keeper Jacobo helped keep the score 2-0. This at least gives the Greek club a fighting chance of getting back into the competition when the return leg takes place in Ukraine next week. However, this match will certainly not be easy for PAOK.

OLYMPIACOS CHASE ROSICKY

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The Greek club Olympiakos is said to be interested in the midfielder of Arsenal Tomas Rosicky.

The 32 years old Czechoslovakian has just one year left in his contract with Arsenal and Olympiakos is ready to lure the Gunners with a bid of 2 million Pounds.

Rosicky has been with Arsenal since the last 7 years, but, his tenure has been hugely affected by the injuries. In 7 seasons, he has just managed to play 128 games.

In the last season also, Rosicky had joined the Gunners camp pretty late because of the injury that he had discovered in the Euro 2012. He just featured for the Gunners in 16 games last season.

At the end of the season, there were talks that Rosicky would be put on sale this summer, but, in one of his interviews a few weeks back, Rosicky said that Arsene Wenger didn’t want him to leave Arsenal.

When asked about his chances of staying at Arsenal next season, Rosicky said, “I think I am staying. I had a chat with the manager at the end of the season and he told me that he didn’t want me to leave. Off course, anything can happen in professional soccer, but, as things stand now, I think I will be a part of Arsenal next season.”

When asked if he is fully satisfied with Arsenal’s performance last season, Rosicky said, “The way we ended the season was fantastic. We had an awful start and in December last year, we couldn’t imagine that we would end up at no. 4. But, the team showed tremendous character and we came back wonderfully.”

The Gunners were at no. 10 in the league points table at one point of time in the last season, but, a string of fine performances towards the end of the season saw them qualifying for the Champions League.