PAOK and Olympiacos completed a historic turnaround from their poor results a week earlier, winning their return legs on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League. It was a miraculous night of European glory for Greek football this season.
PAOK hammered Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 in Toumba and overturned its 2-0 shortfall from a week ago.
Thessaloniki’s own had already fortified a 3-0 score in the first half, with goals from Abdul Baba Rahman, Brandon Thomas and an own goal from Petar Sucic.
Dinamo Zagreb got one back early in the second half through Arber Hoxha, but could not contain the Greeks, who scored again via Kostas Koulierakis and Andrija Zivkovic for a legendary result.
Olympiacos produced an even more spectacular turnaround, as it managed to follow up its 4-1 home loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv with a 6-1 conquest in the away leg in Serbia in extra time.
Just like PAOK, Olympiacos led 3-0 at half-time thanks to the likes of Daniel Podence, Kostas Fortounis and Ayoub El Kaabi.
A penalty kick by Eran Zahavi momentarily reduced the deficit for the hosts who played their home games at Backa Topola, before El Kaabi restored Olympiacos’ three-goal lead on the night.
With the final score at 4-1 after 90 minutes, the game went to extra time, where Olympiacos extended its dominance. Sasa Jovetic and Youssef El Arabi were on target for the Reds to seal their qualification to the last eight.
The draw for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Conference League takes place on Friday.
