Lucky draw for Greek clubs in Europa League
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The much anticipated Europa League draw was favorable for the three Greek clubs. Panathinaikos play Midtjylland, PAOK face Zimbru and Asteras play Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Last season saw Spanish side Sevilla take down Portuguese side Benfica in a shootout that Sevilla won 4-2. The reigning champions will have to wait one more round to find out their fate in this years competition though, as they are qualified in to the group stages already.
Greek clubs could barely have expected a more favorable draw. The most difficult one was dealt for Asteras Tripolis, who will be playing against Maccabi Tel Aviv, a relatively weak Israeli side which has repeatedly achieved upsets against Greek clubs in the past, though (with Olympiacos Piraeus the most notable one).
PAOK Salonika will be facing Zimbru from Moldavia, one of the weakest sides in the tournament, while Panathinaikos, who were eliminated by Standard Liege from the Champions League qualification round earlier this week, are playing Danish side Midtjylland, a club which should not be much of a challenge for the Greek Cup holders.
The first leg of all games will be held on August 21 and the second leg on August 28. PAOK Salonika's first match is away, while Panathinaikos and Asteras Tripolis are playing the first leg at home. Here is the full list of games for the Europa League playoff round:
Sarajevo vs Borussia Monchengladbach
Apollon vs Lokomotiv Moscow
Astana vs Villarreal
Young Boys vs Debrecen
PEC Zwolle vs Sparta Prague
Spartak Trnava vs FC Zurich
Asteras vs Maccabi Tel-aviv
AEL vs Tottenham
Dnipro vs Hajduk Split
Dinamo Minsk vs Nacional
Qarabag vs FC Twente
Petrolul vs Dinamo Zagreb
HJK vs Rapid Vienna
Trabzonspor vs FC Rostov
Zimbru vs PAOK
Hajduk Split vs Torino
Omonia vs Dinamo Moscow
Aktobe vs Legia Warsaw
Lyon vs Astra
Lokeren vs Hull
Neftci vs Partizan Belgrade
Ruch vs Metalist
Elfsborg vs Rio Ave
PSV Eindhoven vs Shakhtyor
Karabukspor vs Saint-Etienne
Stjarnan vs Inter Milan
Panathinaikos vs Midtjylland
Feyenoord vs Zorya
Grasshoppers Zurich vs Club Bruges
Real Sociedad vs Krasnodar
Rijeka vs Sherif