Matchday in focus: PAOK FC

Tactics

Răzvan Lucescu has held the reins at PAOK since 2021 and tends to send his team out in a 4-2-3-1 formation. They are currently second in the Greek Super League following four wins from their first seven matches, but they are unbeaten in European football in 2023/24 and have yet to concede on home turf in three continental outings this season.

Absentees

PAOK are without injured Brazilian midfielder Marcos Antônio.

Sebastian Rode and Mehdi Loune are both on the sidelines for Eintracht with injury, while Mario Götze is not in the squad as his wife is expecting a baby.

One to watch: Vieirinha

• PAOK’s captain will be familiar to Bundesliga followers. Adelino André Vieira de Freita, known as Vieirinha for short, made 163 competitive appearances for VfL Wolfsburg. The Portuguese operates as a full-back, and while his role is primarily a defensive one he is also more than capable of getting into advanced positions.
  
  The 35-year-old has suffered a number of injuries throughout his career, including a cruciate ligament tear in 2019, so he rarely plays the full 90 minutes these days. Nevertheless, he has featured in seven of his side’s 13 competitive games so far this season.

• Club legend: Vieirinha is in his 11th season at PAOK, having laced his boots for the club between 2008 and 2012 and again since the start of the 2017/18 campaign. He has played in 310 games for the Black-and-Whites to date, putting him second in the club’s all-time appearance list, just 48 behind Dimitrios Salpingidis. Vieirinha has also contributed 49 goals and 43 assists in that time.
• Successful: After winning the European Under-17 Championship with Portugal in 2003, Vieirinha also lifted the Portuguese title and the Super Cup (twice) as part of the FC Porto squad. During his time at Wolfsburg, the full-back won the DFB Cup in 2016 and subsequently the DFL Supercup. He has won three cups with PAOK and helped them to the league title in 2019. His greatest achievement to date was winning the European Championship with Portugal in 2016.

Statistics

Eintracht have won each of their last three European fixtures against Greek sides, most recently against Olympiacos in the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group stage. En route to the title, the Eagles earned a 3-1 triumph at home and a 2-1 victory away.

Furthermore, Eintracht have only lost two of their last 13 group games in European competition, posting seven wins and four draws. Both defeats arrived in the UEFA Champions League last season.

Nur zwei der letzten 13 Gruppenspiele in europäischen Wettbewerben hat die Eintracht verloren. Sieben Siege und vier Unentschieden stehen zu Buche. Beide Niederlagen gab es in der vergangenen Saison in der UEFA Champions League.