Razvan Lucescu had to deal with the absences of Lovren, Pelkas, Giakoumakis, Michailides and Sastre. The Romanian coach lined up his team with Pavlenka in goal, Kenny, Kedziora, Vogliacco and Baba in defense, a central midfield duo of Meite and Ozdoev, with Ivanusec in front of them, and Despodov, Taison and Chalov in attack.

PAOK came on strong in the early stages and had the ball at their feet. Kenny and Ivanusec fired warning shots, while Chalov saw Bonneman block his effort in the 11th minute.

As the half wore on, the home team tried to take measures and threaten, in some cases without success, but in the 33rd minute they found the opening goal. Stanić took an initial shot, the ball hit Ozdoev on it’s way to the goal and Pavlenka blocked it, but Stanić was there to the ball into the back of the net on the rebound.

The visitors reacted immediately. In the 38th minute, Ivanusec crossed for Despodov , who finished perfectly to score against his former club and make it 1-1, which was how the the score remained at the end of the first half.

The Double-headed Eagle started the second half in determined mood and went close in the 46th minute when Baba’s shot sailed just wide of the post. Two minutes later, it was 2-1 to PAOK. Despodov took the free kick from the left flank, and Vogliacco scored from close range.

The home team looked for a reaction, and they had two good moments via Tekpetei and Verdon, who found the net in the 70th minute to make it 2-2 following a free-kick, which was awarded for a questionable foul supposedly made by Mady Kamara that he also received a yellow card for, while the scorer also seemed to be in an offside position to add insult to injury.

Ludogorets, now playing with more confidence, got themselves in front in the 77th minute with Chotchev heading in after a cross from Stanić.

But just when it seemed that everything was lost, PAOK found the mental reserves to counter-attack and get back on level terms. In the 89th minute, Kamara hit the post after a pass from Kenny, and as the phase of play continued, Konstandelias laid the ball to Mythou , who scored with a perfect finish to make it 3-3.

PAOK were now the team in high spirits and went for the win in stoppage time. However, Bonman made a crucial save from a one-on-one chance against Mythou, and in the last minute made another almost legendary save to deny a Konstantelias shot to keep the score at 3-3 until the final whistle.

Team lineups:

Ludogorets: Bonman, Son, Verdon, Almeida, Nedialkov, Kaloc (72′ Yordanov), Stanic, Duarte, Vidal (72′ Marcus), Bilet (66′ Chotchev), Tekpetei (90+’ Machado).

PAOK: Pavlenka, Kenny, Kedziora, Vogliacco, Baba, Ozdoev (67′ Kamara), Meite (85′ Bianco), Taison (67′ A.Zivkovic), Ivanusec (60′ Konstantelias), Despodov, Chalov (67′ Mythou).