Faithful to their philosophy of mixing the Greek element with Latin notes, Asteras has been established as one of the leading teams in the league that cause problems for the so-called ‘big clubs’ at every opportunity.

The faces may change, sometimes a necessary ‘restart’ is carried out, however the essence of the club stays the same. And somehow, Asteras manage to achieve the required stability. This is especially so in the last two and a half seasons, and it has largely been thanks to Milan Rastavac, who has assembled a team with a clear identity, character and specific style of play.

After a successful spell at Xanthi, the Serbian coach was brought in in December 2019 by the Asteras management to provide a solution to the team’s problems. And he proved to be Mr. Fix it. With hard work, a clear methodology and dedication to specific goals, he passed on his philosophy to the players he put together. In his first season, although he took over in the middle of the season, he lifted the team from the lower reaches of the table and led the club into the battle for a place in the top six.

The 2020-21 season had a clear goal. Qualifying for the Play Offs. And Asteras managed to do just that, using their chief weapon of solidity and stability, combined with some very good footballing performances. That is why the executives at the club chose not to disturb the balance and the chemistry of the team by maintaining the main core of the squad and proceeding with more corrective moves of reinforcement in the transfer market.

The first part of the summer involved a lot of hardf work. Tzimas and Kotsiras were sold to PAOK and Panathinaikos respectively, continuing the tradition of promoting new Greek players. Also, Fernandez, Belloc, Pasalidis and Suarez all left.

On the transfer front, some targeted work was done and in fact done very quickly. Asteras made five moves to complete the missing pieces of the puzzle that Rastavac opted to put together. The important thing, too, is that the Arcadians essentially completed their squad before pre-season even started.

If you look at the squad you can easily understand that it is one full of youth, quality, and enthusiasm, but also mixed with experience. Papadopoulos, Valiente, Tasoulis, Capilla, Gomez, Sito, Riera, Crespi and Tilica have alongside them Munafo, Barrales and club captain Iglesias, while their is also a cluth of promising young talent in players such as Antzoulas, Tsiftis, Michopoulos, Kanellopoulos, and Ali Baba, while the newcomers Soni, Santafe, Benito, Carmona and Atienza help raise the quality standards even more.

Asteras’ primary goal? The preservation of the status quo. And their optimistic thinking; to take a step above that and bring European football back to Tripolis. Asteras will be one of the teams that will cause a stir this season.