Galery

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Maria S. Topalova
    PAOK Thessaloniki won a hard draw in the match with the definitely strong team of Borussia Dortmund, in which coach Igor Tudor included Dimitar Berbatov as titular for the first time. The whole match was marked by the highly defensive game of the team of Thessaloniki, which rarely counterattacked and even more rarely hit the opponent's goal. The undisputed favourite, Borussia, played with several reserves, controlled the ball more than 65% of the time, played well in midfield but its attack was ‘toothless’ and ineffectual.

    Dimitar Berbatov was apparently isolated and his teammates rarely passed to him but when that happened, he mastered the ball with ease, passed accurately, did not allow inaccurate passes and twice he was on the brink of scoring a goal. Amid the chaos in the midline of the hosts and the abundance of meaningless and inaccurate passes, the game of the Bulgarian impressed with its confidence, professionalism and purposefulness.
    Tudor decided not to include PAOK scorer Klaus Athanasiadis in the composition of the team in the match with Borussia, thus again depriving spectators and fans of the opportunity to see if there is indeed chemistry between Klaus and Berbatov, and if they can become the two-headed attacking blade of the Thessalonians. Rumours are becoming more intense that even if there is such chemistry it is negative and the two central strikers are not working well together.
    Overall, the Greek media comment positively both on the draw in Thessaloniki with the elite German team and the performance of the Bulgarian football star. "In the 59th minute, Berbatov overcame Weidenfeller shortly after the middle of the field in an exceptional way, stealing the ball from him before that, but shot out," reads Kathimerini newspaper, adding, "If this shot of Berbatov was in, it would have been the goal of the year".

    "Berbatov has been through a lot of matches like that with Borussia, and knows how important it is to get even one point," is the opinion of the sports website sport24.gr, which does not spare the disappointment of the Bulgarian player with the fact that his team has not won. "We played well, took the lead, Borussia's goal was a pure coincidence," said Mitko in an interview with OTE TV. "Every match is difficult, we have played only two matches in the Europa League so far. Everything is in our hands, we have a chance to qualify, this is our goal," added the Bulgarian.
    PAOK will host another strong rival at Tumba stadium on Sunday, namely Athens Olympiakos that managed to defeat Arsenal on its own terrain on Tuesday. Igor Tudor has not yet announced the team composition for this match but the expectations are that Berbatov will again play as titular. sport-fm.gr quotes the Bulgarian football star, "This is an important match for Greece. We need to regain our strength and organize ourselves. I know that if I score a goal, I will make PAOK fans very happy. I am happy here and each passing match makes me more confident."
    The match PAOK-Olympiakos will start at 8:30 pm on Sunday.