Aris in big trouble on and off the pitch
The historic club of Aris Thessaloniki is at the foot of the table as of Sunday failing once more to win at home, while the situation off the pitch is no better as it faces a mountain in order to avoid going bankrupt.
Aris runs the risk of celebrating its centenary in 2014 in the second division after going rock bottom with over a third of the league already played. The Thessaloniki Yellows have only collected nine points from 13 games, including their 2-2 draw at home with Panthrakikos on Sunday.
The courts have also rejected the club’s demand for protection from its creditors, which means the settlement of its debts appears impossible without the intervention of anyone willing to part with millions of euros immediately. The courts actually rejected the debt settlement plan of Aris because it took for granted that the club would play top flight soccer next year, too. And that is by no means certain.
At the other end of the table Olympiakos scored another easy win beating Ergotelis 3-0 at home despite the absence of the league’s top scorer Costas Mitroglou. It had Joel Campbell, Michael Olaitan and Chori Dominguez on target on Sunday evening.
Panathinaikos dropped two points at struggling Apollon on Saturday. It led 1-0 with its usual scorer, Marcus Berg in the first half, but coach Lawrie Sanchez’s players equalized through Sakis Panteliadis to snatch a 1-1 draw.
Therefore Atromitos stayed in third despite failing to beat Platanias at Hania, drawing 1-1 on Saturday. Asteras Tripolis joined Panathinaikos in fourth with a comprehensive 3-0 win at home over Panetolikos.
In other games, Veria came off the bottom with a 4-3 home win against Levadiakos in the weekend’s most spectacular game, OFI came from behind to down Kalloni Lesvou 3-1 and Panionios shared a goalless draw with ten-man Xanthi.
On Monday second-placed PAOK travels to PAS Giannina.
