Giannis Mystakidis commented on the team being compact and dedicated victory to Panagiotis Katsouris:

“We made the first step towards the semis, there is still the home leg left. I believe we will seal qualification there.

We have many utility players. Defenders who score and attacking players who defend well. We stamped our character on the match despite being reduced to 10 players. Such games make us stronger and tighten our bond with our fans.

Let’s not jinx it… We have been playing every three days, that is hard to pull off. After the stroke of the hour, I could feel my leg muscles pull me. We have a strong will though. All players are good, our roster is rich and all guys help out when the coach asks them to.

I belong in a big club like PAOK. It’s not easy to start every Sunday. My main objective is to be in the starting line-up. That is tough to achieve, as we have very good players in my position. I am very happy to have scored today and I dedicate my goal to Panagiotis Katsouris –we feel him by our side.

I am confident that next Thursday’s game will be sold out and we will do our best to make our fans happy.”

Aleksandar Prijović, who also got to score against Xanthi, spoke about his goal, the away victory and his current form:

“I aimed for the far top corner, but the ball went low. However it ended at the back of the net, that’s what counts. It was a good one. I have scored such goals before, even more spectacular ones. Hopefully I will net more of them for PAOK.

I mostly like featuring inside the box. That is my strong point. I am not 100% ready yet. I feel good and I hope that soon I will be in optimum physical condition.

We took the first step towards the semi-finals. We are expecting a tough second leg though. Nothing is decided yet.

Leovac messes my hair on purpose. I will talk to him about it!”

Efthymis Koulouris spoke about the victory in Pigadia and also commented on next week’s encounter against FC Schalke 04:

“It was a very important victory, it’s like prevailing in the first half of a tie. Two goals away give us a big advantage. Recently we have been playing well and winning. We aim to win every match. There are tough encounters ahead in a tricky match, playing every three days… We are in good shape though. It’s important for all of us to win every game

Thurday’s European encounter is very important to us, but before that we must focus on Xanthi. It’s a very important league game and we need to collect three points away again”

PAOK captain Panagiotis Glykos spoke about the differences between the Greek Cup and the league game against Xanthi:

“It’s a positive result. Let’s not forget though that nothing is over yet, there is still the Toumba leg ahead.

The league game will be completely different. We need to extend our winning streak.

Let’s think about Sunday’s game first and then focus on Thursday. We need to rest, recuperate well and fast in order to be ready in three days. Afterwards we will shift our attention to Schalke. We will be fully prepared for both games”