It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but we came out of this derby with all three points.

The first half was a very poor one. We played with little passion, and little focus on the game. It was a sloppy game, though we did manage to create a couple of decent chances. Fortunately for us though, PAOK weren’t having a great game either. Had they been in better form though, they likely could have scored a goal or two in that first half.

Some more sloppy mistakes came from Saja in the first half, one which was almost an exact replay of a mistake against Kavala. Fortunately, he tightened things up as the match progressed.

We turned things around in the second, when we started to play with much more passion. It was clear the players came out of the dressing rooms at the start of the second half going for nothing but a win. Our game tightened up, and we began attacking more. Eventually, our goal came, after Scocco walked easily past the PAOK defense in order to set up Manduca for an easy tap in.

Despite the improvement in our play during the second half, we did not play nearly as tight as we should be playing. Though we won, I think a large part of that is due to the fact that PAOK were quite bad rather than us being quite good.

Leonardo played and once again he provided very little. Scocco, who received the MVP award, had a fine game, and had an incredible shot denied by the upright.

AEK also had an incredible chance denied by Chalkias who produced an incredible save to prevent a header from going in for AEK.

Well, despite the relatively poor performance, we got the three points. A huge morale booster for the fans and the players. Now, we have to see what happens when we face Everton this week. If we win, we keep our chances of going to the next round alive. Personally, I think its possible, and the victory against Benfica illustrates this. It will be hard, but it can still happen.

Cirillo was applauded and cheered by the AEK supporters today. It was nice to see him clapping back, and it looked like he honestly meant it.

Recently promoted Kavala’s impressive form in the Superleague has continued after they managed to get a late win against AEK. This win means that Kavala has managed to take points from each of the big three (a draw against Olympiakos in Karaiskaki and a home draw against PAO).

Though Kavala’s first goal came off of a penalty which was a clear dive and a few calls weren’t made in our favour, Kavala were clearly the better team. Even though we managed to hold on to possession for much of the game, we rarely managed to create any chances and most of our chances we did create came from free kicks or corners. Kavala was actually the exact opposite in fact. Every time they had the ball players would be making runs in every direction opening spaces and getting the ball dangerously close on a number of occasions.

Leonardo was terrible. I really hope we don’t see him play much more. I hate to say it, and I know he isn’t doing it on purpose, but he just can’t perform on the pitch. He does have some good ball control but his passes are absolutely terrible and ends up being an absolute waste of space on the pitch.

Gentzoglou was our best player yesterday, and while that wouldn’t necessarily mean much when he was surrounded by mediocre players at best he really was quite fantastic. Aside from scoring the goal for us (it seems our centrebacks are scoring more goals for us than our strikers) he made a critical and perfectly timed tackle from behind to stop the Kavala player from having an easy one on one with Saja (who was not playing his best today). The kid has massive potential and is improving each game (he is only 19 years old by the way).

Karabelas also had a good game again before having to come off for an injury and along with Gentzoglou he is improving every game.

As we are seeing every game now we missed some incredible chances but Kavala’s keeper was just to alert for us.

Its too bad really, I would have loved to see us beat Psomiadis’ team (just to remind you all, that is the a– h— that stole 12 million euros from us and should be in prison right now). Before the game he said he didn’t want to give AEK tickets because he was afraid we wouldn’t pay him back. He has a nerve, considering he is the reason we are where we are financially. In the end though (after Original threatened to buy regular tickets and sit with the Kavala fans) we finally got tickets for our supporters who made the long trip (over one thousand of them).

Really not much more can be said. We simply aren’t good enough. Though the referring was not the best, and though we missed some fantastic opportunities, Kavala were simply the better team.

We are still fifth, but that could change depending on what happens with the PAOK-Aris derby tonight.

Olympiakos were up 2-0 (away) against PAS Giannena but PAS managed to come from behind and ended up with a draw! Just one small thing that we can smile about this weekend

So, some news about the deal with Kozonis. During the week, someone (they are trying to find out who or at what level) released the papers to the press which stated all the details about the deal(the debts and any other information), even before Kozonis’ lawyers received it. Clearly, someone withing AEK is trying to prevent the deal from happening. Kozonis said he is still determined to get the team and make it a big team once again. Hopefully it will happen, but I won’t believe anything until I see it (though I still remain optimistic).

Quando ouvi a notícia confesso que cheguei a questionar minha sobriedade, seria mais um flashback lisérgico???

Não, não haviam drogas nem delírios, pelo menos não de minha parte.

Embora ainda não seja certo, a história existe mesmo e foi confirmada no Bate Bola da ESPN Brasil pelo presidente do Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto, Luiz Antônio Pereira.

O aposentado Christian Vieri - il Bobo –  pode mesmo jogar o campeonato paulista do ano que vem… e pelo Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto!

De acordo com o sítio oficial do Botinha, as negociações se desenvolvem há cerca de 60 dias e o jogador italiano já teria até assinado um pré contrato com a Pantera da Mogiana.

Eu nunca fui fã do Vieri, sempre o achei um jogador de força e nada mais. Sem falar no uso excessivo dos cotovelos, algo que realmente abomino. Mas mesmo assim reconheço seus dotes de goleador.

Ao longo de sua carreira em clubes, o Bobo Vieri balançou as redes 185 vezes em 330 partidas e pela Azzurra foram 23 gols em 49 jogos, sendo 9 destes tentos em Copas do Mundo (5 em 1998 e 4 em 2002 - 9 gols em 9 partidas de Copa não é pra qualquer um). Números indiscutivelmente muito bons!

Mas desde a temporada 2002/2003, quando jogando na Inter de Milão marcou 24 gols em 23 partidas pela liga italiana, ele não consegue convencer.

2003/2004 – Inter de Milão – 13 gols em 22 jogos
2004/2005 – Inter de Milão – 13 gols em 27 jogos
2005/2006 – Milan – 1 gol em 8 jogos
2005/2006 – Mônaco – 3 gols em 7 jogos
2006/2007 – Atalanta – 2 gols em 7 jogos
2007/2008 – Fiorentina – 6 gols em 26 jogos
2008/2009 – Atalanta – 2 gols em 9 jogos

A minha dúvida quanto ao Vieri é a mesma que eu tinha em relação ao Ronaldo - logicamente sem comparações, as proporções são as mesmas, Ronaldo está para Vieri assim como o Corinthians está para o Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto.

Se ele jogar, se as contusões não atrapalharem, seguramente Vieri será muito útil ao Botinha. Tanto dentro de campo – afinal, estes times pequenos do interior sempre têm sua cota de velhinhos e o Bobo, com 36 anos, já mostrou que sabe fazer gols – como fora dele, pois ninguém pode dizer que a suposta contratação não é uma grande jogada de marketing.

E te digo mais, se ele fizer uns golzinhos no Paulista não duvido nada que após o regional apareça na série A do Brasileirão.

Abaixo, aquele que – para mim – é o melhor gol da carreira de Christian Vieri. No Vicente Calderón, jogando pelo Atlético de Madrid contra o Paok da Grécia, pela Copa da Uefa 1997/1998. Vale a pena conferir!

Imagem: Bobo Vieri mister 90 miliardi
Canal do Youtube: takischris

Ok, to be honest, I was expecting a loss for AEK here. Aris were considered favorites for this game and I think that’s somewhat justified. Bearing that in mind, I’ll take a draw here. Its never easy to win away against Aris, even on a good day.

I wasn’t able to watch the match since it was satellite. Hopefully one of the other members or one of our regular comment posters managed to watch it so we can get some more feedback.

I’ll try to say what I can based on the highlights below and what I’ve read on other sights.

So, this game apparently saw two different AEK teams. One, in the first half, which was utterly terrible (as if AEK wasn’t actually on the pitch) and one in the second half, which some claim was the best AEK all season (fine, not exactly a difficult title to earn, but pleasing nonetheless).

Aris’ first goal came early, in the fifth minuet. As you can all see, a simple principle of football, defense, was not applied therefore giving Aris a very simple goal to score. A common feature of any amateur team’s defense is having someone on either post, ready to clear any balls near there. While this may not be applied so often at professional levels, it is still common sense to have an eye on both the near post as well as the far post. On the Aris corner, the whole right side of the box is empty except Abreu. With no pressure, he barely even had to move his head to tap the ball in the net.

Like with a goal scored by PAO against Larissa a few weeks back, simply having someone marking in that area would have avoided the goal entirely, or at least reduced the chances of it scoring.

Saja, as is clear in the video, played a good game. How some can be calling him to leave the team is something I cannot understand. The first goal at the BATE game also was not his fault. With those conditions, it is likely the same would have happened to any keeper.

So, basing on what I heard, Aris were pressuring quite a bit the first half, while AEK was doing little.

Things changed in the second. AEK were suddenly dominating on the pitch. We had a number of chances (including a post from Blanco) but just couldn’t get the ball in the net (for anyone who say the Roma match today, the exact same happened, chance after chance, but the ball would not make it between the posts).

Scocco scored our goal, but apparently refused to pass on a number of occasions which could have led to goals and instead decided to shoot. Scocco is a great player, got MVP of the week last week, but we have to see him play more with the team. We all know he has great technical abilities, but we must win the game as a team. With players like Nemeth and Blanco waiting to score, there is no reason for him to be ignoring them.

Araujo played well from what I heard, but other than that, everyone else played an average game. Not bad I suppose, at least nobody played a particularily poor game.

PAO beat PAOK 2-1. Normally I would be cheering for PAOK at this one, but right now, I want PAO to be at the top, or anyone really, except Oly.

Speaking of Oly, they barely got away with a win yesterday, at their own home against Ergotelis, who have been impressive so far. Ergotelis went up first, but Oly tied it. Ergotelis then had a few incredible chances to score and take the lead, but failed to so. In the mean time, Olympiakos was playing some of the most boring, unimpressive football I’ve seen in years. Of course, as is typical, lucky Oly, they got a fluke goal, which had Daskalakis been more prepared for would have saved with ease.

So, tomorrow, an announcement is expected with regards to Kozonis becoming the new Owner of PAE AEK! His representatives are in Athens now looking through the financial books, making sure there aren’t any suprises, and it everything goes well, the deal will be sealed. I am confident this will be good for AEK in the end.

[w+] PAOK Saloniki vs. Olympiakos Piräus am 20. September 2009

A los españoles les fue bien, sobretodo a Villareal y a Valencia, que jugando en campo ajeno ganaron con facilidad y dejaron vista para sentencia la eliminatoria, el Athletic tendrá que mejorar en Noruega, porque ayer se salvó por los pelos.

NAC Breda – Villareal FC 1 – 3

Importante victoria, que ha demostrado que equipo es superior. A los 15′ Giuseppe Rossi inauguró el marcador, tras un pase de Senna a Nilmar este se la dejó al italiano, que ante dos defensores chutó con el interior del pie y el portero nada pudo hacer. En el 17′ una falta sacada desde el sector derecho del campo, cabeceó a portería un jugador del NAC, que rechazó diego, pero el esférico se quedó a centímetros de línea cosa que fue aprovechada por Loran para igualar. En el 49′ Ibagaza, adelantó a los visitantes, gracias a la pícardia ya que mientras los jugadores del NAC estaban colocándose en la barrera lanzó al palo contrario del portero, para acabar la pelota en las redes. En el 90′ Llorente hizo el tercero, tras cabecear desde el punto de penalti un centro desde la izquierda.

Stabaek – Valencia CF 0 – 3

Fácil victoria valenciana, ante un rival muy inferior. En la primera parte quedó sentenciado el partido gracias a dos goles ché, que marcaron Pablo y Villa, el primero aprovechó un centro de Mata para desde el centro del área rematar y aunque el portero rechazó el balón a la segunda acabó dentro, era el minuto 29. En el 35′ Villa un pase rasó de Pablo fue desplazado por un defensa que le llegó a Villa que en el segundo remató a placer. En el 80′ Joaquín tras recibir un pase por alto para regatear al portero y marcar a placer.

Athletic Bilbao – Tromso 3 – 2

Los Leones se complicaron mucho el partido merced a dos goles de disparo raso y desde fuera del área de Moldskred en el 42′ y Linpere en el 78′. Pese a todo un dudoso penalti sobre Javi Martinez fue transformado por él mismo engañando al portero en el 62′, en el 84′ De Marcos lanzó una balón con gran rosca que chocó contra el palo y se introdujo dentro de la portería y ya en el 90′, Llorente cabeceó un centro desde la izquierda para poner una mínima renta.

El resto de favoritos cumplió exceptuando la Roma que empató a 3 en casa del Kosice y del Zenit que perdió en el campo del Nacional de Madeira por 4- 3.

MFK Kosice – AS Roma 3 – 3

A pesar de empezar perdiendo con un gol Milinkovic en el minuto 5 , Totti empató en el 38′ desde el punto de penalti. En la segunda parte Menez en el 52′ y Totti en el 67′ ponían una clara ventaja visitante pero Novak con un tanto de penalti en el 71′ y otro en el 81′ igualaba el partido.

Bnei Yehuda – PSV 0 – 1

Otra vez por la mínima y sin mucho juego que ofrecer, el PSV se llevó el partido y tiene pie y medio en la siguiente ronda. El autor del gol Afellay en el 23′.

EA Guingamp – Hamburgo SV 1 – 5

Fácil victoria germana ante un segunda francés con el que no tuvo piedad. En la primera parte marcaron Guerrero en el 7′, Petric en el 11′ y en el 26′. En el 51′ Berg anotaba el cuarto, el quinto lo obraba Petric en el 86′ y el del honor francés, lo hizo Hesl en el 90′ en propia meta.

Ajax Amsterdam – Slovan Bratislava 5 – 0

Recital de Luis Suarez que ha anotado cuatro en los minutos 43′, 65′, 78′ y 83′ el quinto fue obra de Donald en el 90′. Partido cómodo y eliminatoria resuelta.

Benfica – Vorskla 4 – 0

Otra eliminatoria que esta resuelta es esta, gran partido del equipo lisboeta que gracias a los tantos de Di María en el 31′, de Cardozo en el 54′, de Saviola en el 57′ y de Weldon en el 77′, certifica su pase.

FC Sion – Fenerbahce 0 – 2

Los turcos ganaron cómodamente gracias a dos tantos al final de cada período, el primero del fichaje André Santos en el 44′ y el segundo de Kazim Kazi en el 84′.

Galatasaray – Levadia Tallin 5 – 0

Que gusto da ver el nuevo Galatasaray de Rijkaard, vence y convence y su puede golea como en este partido. Los goleadores fueron Keita en los minutos 21′ y 45′. En la segunda mitad le siguieron Baros en el 56′ de penalti, Kewell en el 78′ y Leitan en el 88′ en propia portería.

Genoa – Odense BK 3 – 1

Otro equipo a tener en cuenta es el Genoa, ha fichado bien este verano y de momento se deja ver en Europa hasta que comience el Calcio. En el 9′ Moretti abrió el marcador y le siguió Figueroa con un doblete en los minutos 48′ y 56′. Para los daneses descontó Gislason en el 58′.

SS Lazio – Elfsborg 3 – 0

La Lazio pinta muy bien que tras ganar la Supercoppa italiana, ha ganado fácilmente este partido. Kolarov en el 23′ inauguró el marcador, además la estrella Zárate en el 35′ aumentó la renda y Mauri en el 69′ la redondeó.

Everton – Sigma Olomouc 4 – 0

Gran victoria toffe para quitarse los augurios de la primera jornada. Con dos dobletes uno de Saha en los minutos 34′ y 73′, que abrió y cerró el marcador. El otro doblete fue del canterano Rodwell,- sustituto de Lescott- en los minutos 40′ y 54′.

Werder Bremen – Aktobe 6 – 3

El Bremen parece haber vuelto por sus fueros, dónde ganaban partidos goleando y partidos vistosos. La primera parte no hacía presagiar una goleada pues acabó con un parcial 3-2, con goles obra de Boenisch en el 17′, Özil en el 28′ y Naldo en el 36′ para los locales y un doblete de Strukov en los minutos 21′ y 31′ para los visitantes. Pasado el descanso pero, el Bremen puso otra marcha y Almeida en el 60′, Naldo en el 65′ y Özil en el 67′ de penalti, pusieron una diferencia grande más tarde reducida mínimamente por Smakov en el 86′.

Nacional – Zenit 4 – 3
Otro partido loco fue el que disputaron estos dos equipos en la isla de Madeira. Luís Alberto inauguró el marcador en el 30′ y Joao Aurélio en el 37′ hizo el segundo. Antes del descanso recortó distancias Semshov en el 44′. Tras el descanso, todo siguió igual el Nacional augmentó por dos veces más la renta gracias a Rodrigo Silva en el 53′ y Ruben Micael en el 73′ y el Zenit recortó mediante Semshov en el 55′ y Tekke en el 90′.

Otros resultados:

FK Baku – FC Basilea 1 – 3

BATE Borisov – Liteks Lovetch 0 – 1

FK Teplice – Hapoel Tel Aviv 1 – 2

Trabzonspor – Toulouse 1 – 3

CSKA Sofía – Dínamo Moscú 0 – 0

PAOK – SC Heerenveen 1 – 1

Metalurg Donetsk – Austria Vienna 2 – 2

Rapid Vienna – Aston Villa 1 – 0

Sturm Graz – Metalist Kharkiv 1 – 1

Dínamo Bucarest – Slovan Lberec 0 – 2

Steaua Bucarest – Saint Patricks 3 – 0

FC Twente – FK Karabakh 3 – 1

FC Vaslui – AEK Atenas 2 – 1

Sivasspor – Shaktar Donetsk 0 – 3

Slavia Praga – Estrella Roja 3 – 0

FK Sarajevo – Cluj 1 – 1

Partizan Belgrado – MSK Zilina 1 – 1

Brondby – Hertha Berlín 2 – 1

Lech Poznan – Club Brugge 1 – 0

NK Maribor – Sparta Praga 0 – 2

Genk – Lille 1 – 2

Dínamo Zagreb – Hearts 4 – 0

Fulham – Amkar Perm 3 – 1

Μπερδεμένα ήταν τα συναισθήματα από το χτεσινό φιλικό του ΠΑΟΚ με τον Εργοτέλη. Από την μία υπήρξαν θετικά συμπεράσματα από την νίκη αλλά από την άλλη υπάρχει δυσαρέσκεια για τον τραυματισμό του Γιώργου Φωτάκη.

Ο Έλληνας μέσος υπέστη διάταση πρώτου βαθμού και θα απουσιάσει τις επόμενες δέκα ημέρες από τις υποχρεώσεις της ομάδας του Φερνάντο Σάντος.

Κατόπιν τούτου, θα απουσιάσει από το παιχνίδι με την Χέρενφεϊν και από την πρεμιέρα του ελληνικού πρωταθλήματος.

Στα αγωνιστικά, η ομάδα του Δικεφάλου έδειξε ένα αρκετά καλό πρόσωπο ενόψει του ευρωπαϊκού τεστ ενώ σημαντικό ήταν και το ντεμπούτο των Βιτόλο, Βιεϊρίνια και Σαβίνι.

Παράλληλα, ο Πάμπλο Γκαρσία συναντήθηκε με την διοίκηση του ΠΑΟΚ και το θέμα που προέκυψε ανάμεσα στις δύο πλευρές τις τελευταίες μέρες θεωρείται λήξαν.

Greek club PAOK F.C. have released this shot of their new kits by Puma.

Play

Hey Hey my fellow readers, my friends and foes.

Today its the last night here at Sarti for 2009 and I don*t really know what to do.

I got a wierd dream that we had to go to school last night..maybe i need education..

The last few days i am going out with my uncle (thinking he will show me) but well he is married. Hanging out with some friends here…blabla..

its wierd to see how easily you can tell an italian drunk girl what to do. its a fun summer until now. I hope you are not too jealous guys.

Sarti after midnight because too hot, and i am loving it. Mpampis, a fa ily friend, aged 28 , he works at the door, of mac club (makedonia club) he is so fucking funny. He can flirt with 5 girls at the same time but he will make it so fun for the others to here, i am more classic, i offer a drink (yuhu free drinks)

And girls if you like it , what you hear, hands off, Mpampis is very selective

So so ..I am having fun, too bad Loukas isnt here..meh it could have been so cool..but whatever cant write more about…

Btw i watched PAOK yesterday against a dutch team. huhu…losers…holland is so crap at football. Admire greece. PAOK btw got this tis poutanas gios players , tisirilo ex-AEK player.. what an asshole italian guy.. he is the worst italian footballplayer …but he is a sun of a bitch..has a good left foot. Wonderful goal he scored but so..tsatsos.

Yep, you guessed it, another derby on the first matchday of the season. And AEK will once again be one of the teams playing in the derby, just like last year. And who will our opponent be? Yep, its Olympiakos!

The game is still a while away but Im sure the likes of Bajevic, Blanco, Scocco, and Kyrgiakos are waiting for their revenge after our unfortunate loss in the Greek Cup Final of 2009. This should be an exciting game, as this fixture always proves to be.

The schedule for next season is up on Superleague Greece’s site. Our first fifteen games are as follows:

Match Round 1 AEK-Olympiakos

Match Round 2 Atromitos-AEK

Match Round 3 AEK-Iraklis

Match Round 4 Pas Giannina-AEK

Match Round 5 AEK-PAO

Match Round 6 Skoda Xanthi-AEK

Match Round 7 AEK-Panthrakikos

Match Round 8 Aris-AEK

Match Round 9 Ergotelis-AEK

Match Round 10 AEK-Larissa

Match Round 11 Kavala-AEK

Match Round 12 AEK-PAOK

Match Round 13 Panionios-AEK

Match Round 14 AEK-Levadeiakos

Match Round 15 Asteras Tripolis-AEK

The team written first is home, while the team written second is away. The matches for rounds 16-30 are in the same order but the home team will be away and the opposite way around.

All of our first three derbies (Oly,PAO,PAOK) are at home for the first round, so this should benefit us a little.

Link with information and the other first round fixtures here.

The new teams this year are Atromitos, Pas Giannina, and Kavala.

The only dates released so far are that the first games will be played on the 22nd and 23rd of August.

In other AEK news, Leonardo has been saying that he will quite possibly be playing at AEK next season. Lets just wait and hope that this is in fact true.

Autobahnwahn

Seit zwei Jahren ist meine Arbeit in Düsseldorf. Meine Familie lebt dagegen in Hamburg. Und dazwischen ich, aber ganz cool. Vollbremskombination aus Ampel oder Einfädeln oder beides auf einmal. Geht nur mit Tricks. Eben noch kurz auf die A 52. Schon vielversprechend lebhaft. Hinter dem Breitscheider Kreuz geht es richtig los. Stau auf der A 3 bis Oberhausen. Danach entspannt es sich auch nur deshalb, weil enge Baustellen mit rüden Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen zum gleichmässigen Rollen zwingen. Es wird links überholt, es wird rechts überholt. Es wird gar nichts mehr, alles steht und macht lange Gesichter. Ich dagegen wechsle die Cassette. Es geht weiter. Vor und hinter mir hektische Spurenwechsel. So zieht sich das Stück A 2 bis zum Recklinghauser Kreuz. Der erhofften Entspannung folgt zuverlässig der Vollfrust. Die A 43 bis Münster ist genauso voll wie das Kamener Kreuz zur Rush-hour. Auf der A 1 ist dann endgültig Schluss mit lustig. Alles dümpelt auf der Überholspur. Natürlich mit 90. Rechts geht es schneller, irrerweise wegen der Lkws. Die wollen nämlich alle noch vor zehn zu Hause sein. Osnabrück. Dammer Berge. Tanken, weil kleiner Tank. Nach Wildeshausen wird die Autobahn dreispurig. Klasse! Alles stürmt nach links, auch ein Kadett City mit Bochumer Kennzeichen. Bleibt hartnäckig. Blinker bringt auch nichts. Lichthupe ebenfalls zwecklos. Muss rechts vorbei. Ein Mittelscheitel macht den Breiten. Der Verkehr verzieht sich. Nach Stuckenborstel gehe ich vom Gas nicht mehr runter. Den Abzweig zum Elbtunnel mal wieder viel zu schnell genommen. Der Rest geht schnell. Entscheide mich natürlich wie immer für die linke Röhre, um dann nach Tunnelende dramatisch blitzartig vier Spuren nach rechts in die Ausfahrt hineinzubremsen. Das einzige, was auf der Stresemann wieder aufhält, ist eine kuriose Ampelschaltung. Am Phantom der Oper links, auf dem Ring einmal rundrum bis zum Winterhuder Marktplatz, dahinter noch mal links, zum Stadtpark hinunter. Ich bin da. Wieder zu spät. Alles schläft schon. Samstag. Sonntag. Deutschland guckt Tagesschau. Ich gucke in den linken Aussenspiegel. Dann drei Spuren rüber wieder in die linke Röhre. Diesmal doppelt so schnell durch den Tunnel wie auf dem Hinweg. Bleibe auf der linken Spur bis zum Abzweig Richtung Bremen. Der ist zweispurig, deshalb gibt es das beliebte Abbiegen-im-letzten-Moment-Spiel. Weil offensichtlich die Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung vergessen wurde, bin ich drei Minuten später schon auf der Bremer Autobahn. Die Überholspur ist frei. Ein Fünfer will es wissen. Muss ein i sein, er lässt sich nicht abschütteln. Wie immer auf dem Rückweg säuft der Wagen wie ein Loch. An der Raststätte Wildeshausen bin ich fällig. Brauche auch noch was Süsses. Dann leiste ich mir mal wieder den höllisch teuren Trinkjoghurt in der ekligen Plastikflasche. Pinkeln kann entfallen. Superkurzer Tankstopp. Der Verkehr nimmt zu, die Tempo-100-Schilder nehmen auch zu. Der Liter von dem süssen Zeug ist weg, bevor ich in Osnabrück bin. Vor dem Beifahrersitz sammelt sich der Müll. Endlich sind die Laster da. Dann regnet es auch noch. Wie immer warte ich auf das kurze dreispurige Steigungsstück im Tecklenburger Wald, um mich an die Spitze der Schlange zu setzen. Die dritte Spur kommt, und mein Plan wird von einem japanischen, wild getunten Insekt mit Essener Kennzeichen vereitelt. Nunmehr prasselnder Regen tut sein übriges. Noch vor Münster verschwindet er so schnell, wie er gekommen ist. Die Strasse ist trocken. Grossartig! Jetzt geht es nämlich auf die 43 Richtung Recklinghausen, meine private Rennstrecke. 60 Kilometer, die ich schon in knapp 20 Minuten geschafft habe. Ich biege auf die besagte Autobahn, natürlich sofort nach links auf die Überholspur. Muss mich jetzt leider unbeliebt machen. Einer zeigt mir den Stinkefinger. Ich werfe Kusshändchen, das macht sie besonders fertig. Und ich gebe Gas, gerne auch mit Zurückschalten. Manche Lkw-Fahrer, an denen ich vorbeizische, grüssen freundlich mit Lichthupe. Ich kann leider nicht zurückgrüssen, habe keine Zeit dafür. Das Recklinghauser Kreuz ist da und ab auf die A 2 Richtung Oberhausen. Die nächste Baustelle hat es in sich. Da sind die Spuren so eng, dass man sich bei überhöhter Geschwindigkeit nicht mal eine Kippe anzünden kann, ohne über diese gelben Knopfmarkierungen zu fahren. Ich spüre diese Drecksdinger einzeln, so hart ist mein Wagen gefedert. Zwischendurch Zwischenspurts. Mal wieder mehr Radarfallenschilder als Radarfallen. Oberhausen kommt und geht. Das Breitscheider Kreuz auch. Ich biege auf die A 52 und bleibe dabei, bis ich mal wieder viel zu schnell in die Stadt einrolle. Kurz vor dem DEG-Stadion hole ich mir noch ein paar Alt an der Tanke. Die Lindemann nach Süden, links auf die Grafenberger und dann gleich wieder rechts. Ich bin da. Blick zur Uhr, Zeit nehmen. Jetzt schnell den ganzen Krempel rauf in die Wohnung. Glotze an, Spätnachrichten. Einschlafen. Montag. Dienstag. Mittwoch. Donnerstag. Freitag. Am Nachmittag ist es am schlimmsten. Stadtauswärts Richtung Flughafen. Der letzte Abzweig ist besonders schlau.

Aus dem Blindtext Archiv >>> von latz://new.media

The match against Larissa ended 0-0 yesterday.

A report can be found here.

As the article states the draw means little for us. Either way, we can still qualify for Champions League as long as we beat Panathinaikos this Sunday. However, we did not play as well as we should have one week before the biggest game of the playoffs.

It was not a horrible display by AEK, however it was not nearly as impressive a display as the past two matches. I think one significant reason for this was the absence of Kafes, who over this season has turned into a critical midfielder for us. Im not sure yet if he will be ready for this weekend, but hopefully he will because Nsaliwa will be out for the next game due to picking up too many yellow cards.

Larissa had some incredible opportunities to score, including a penalty. Luckily for us however we managed to hold onto that one valuable point which could grant us Champions League and extra money which we so desperately need.

With regards to some of the comments which have been posted about Sunday’s game I believe, but am not certain, that a win next week will be enough to grant us Champions League as the final standing, in case of two teams having the same amount of points, is determined by head-to-head record. This means that regardless the score, as long as we win, we will get first since we would have beaten Pao once in the playoffs (and once in the regular season) and drawn with them once in the playoffs (and once in the regular season).

I will have to clarify that though because I am not 100 percent certain.

AEK is angry with regards to the officiating at yesterday’s games due to some of the calls made such as the penalty (it is questionable as I have not seen a truly convincing video of it however there is a high chance that Koutromanos may have actually made contact with the Larissa player) and the goal we almost scored (again, I can’t say for sure what is true as I have not yet seen a camera view which confirms without doubt that the ball indeed did cross the line).

Here is the best video I can find at the moment of highlights of the game.

There isn’t much I can think of too say of the game. No one really stood out as either fantastic or worrisome, at least not that I can remember. Ill see if AEKMAN74  or AEK Baltimore have anything to add.

For some reason, I believe that we will win this weekend. Larissa just seems to be one of those teams we have trouble beating this year (only one win from four games, with the three other results being draws). We barely beat them earlier in the playoffs after a mediocre performance and then we went on to draw Pao away and to beat PAOK twice in a row with two good performances. Im sure, if we play the best we can, without silly mistakes, that we can beat Pao, and get a chance to qualify for Champions League next year.

Here is a video of some of the highlights from yesterday’s match for those who didn’t manage to watch it.

AEK managed to beat PAOK 1-0 in a sold out Toumba satidum.

This is another great result for us and hopefully we will win the next three matches which will guarantee us a Champions League qualifying spot. Our two toughest games (in theory) are now over and we managed to come out with four out of a total of six possible points from the two fixtures.

AEK played the final five minutes of the match with only nine players after Hetemaj had been sent off for his second yellow a little while after Georgeas was also sent off for collecting two yellows. Nonetheless, we managed to hold off the many PAOK attacks and grab on to those three valuable points.

AEK’s goal came in the first period, a well placed header by Blanco off of a Djebbour (if I remember correctly) cross. Both teams had many close chances and the score really could have ended up 3-1 for either side.

The match coverage of the match over the internet was of very low quality so I could only really catch the highlights show and listen to it on the radio. However, it seems like we played a decent game and I believe we should have a decent chance of winning against PAOK in our own home in the middle of the week.

The atmsophere in Toumba was incredible, even during the heavy rain. The stadium was filled completely and the singing was constant. Hopefully, although I doubt it, we will get a decent crowd in Athens on Wednesday as well.

Panathinaikos managed to beat Larissa 3-1 on Sunday and Larissa did not look to be in their best form which should be good news for us this weekend (although they did become much more dangerous in the second half when Gianakopoulos entered).