PAOK cleared the first hurdle, made it out of the group stage and are now awaiting to find out their rival in the \u201clast 32\u201d stage of the UEFA Europa League. The encounters will be held in mid-February, but the draw is scheduled for Monday 12 December. Here are the potential rivals of the \u201cTwo-Headed Eagle\u201d:<\/p>\n
15 teams. The four best third-placed teams of the UEFA Champions League group stage and the group winners of the UEFA Europa League, apart from ACF Fiorentina. Fifteen destinations. Historic clubs, old foes, some surprise packages and some welcome opportunities for PAOK to get… revenge.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the clubs who transferred from the UEFA Champions League and got a second chance for European football this season. It\u2019s Robin Olsen\u2019s FC K\u00f8benhavn<\/strong> and Tottenham Hotspur<\/strong>, who bring PAOK some very pleasurable memories. It\u2019s also Olympique Lyonnais<\/strong> and Be\u015fikta\u015f JK<\/strong>, who have never crossed paths with the \u201cTwo-Headed Eagle\u201d in the past in official encounters.<\/p>\n Among the UEFA Europa League group winners, four teams have played against PAOK in the past. Shakhtar Donetsk<\/strong> met our team in the \u201chybrid\u201d group stage of the 2005-06 UEFA Cup. Fenerbah\u00e7e SK<\/strong> were eliminated by PAOK in the UEFA Europa League play-offs of 2010-11. FC Schalke 04<\/strong> prevailed over PAOK in the UEFA Champions League play-offs of 2013-14. As for AFC Ajax<\/strong>, they faced the \u201cTwo-Headed Eagle\u201d in the UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round of 2010-11 and in the current season and qualified in both sets of ties.<\/p>\n The list of PAOK\u2019s potential rivals also features in-form AS Roma<\/strong>, R\u00f3bert Mak\u2019s FC Zenit Saint Petersburg<\/strong>, AS Saint-\u00c9tienne<\/strong> whose spectacular comeback in Anderlecht\u2019s home ground saw them clinch first place on the final day of the group stage, APOEL<\/strong> who defeated Olympiacos twice and won their group and AC Sparta Praha<\/strong> who were impressive once again in the group stage. There is also Osmanl\u0131spor FK<\/strong>, who sprung the biggest surprise of the current competition confining Villarreal to second place of their group and eliminating FC Steaua Bucure\u0219ti.<\/p>\n Group F was the last to be decided, as the encounter between US Sassuolo Calcio and KRC Genk<\/strong> was played on Friday, due to intense fog on the previous day. The Belgian outfit prevailed 2-0 and finished at the top of the standings, leaving Athletic Club in second place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PAOK will find out on Monday 12 December who their next rival in the UEFA Europa League will be. The draw will begin at 14:00 in Nyon and paokfc.gr presents to you the potential rivals of the \u201cTwo-Headed Eagle\u201d.","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":343048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1520,5,8627],"tags":[6435,2314,4584,5338,5788,9082,9083,9084],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n