Europa League curtain for AEK and PAOK
AEK and PAOK crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday after suffering bitter losses that banished all hope of progression for Greece’s representatives in the tournament.
AEK had another disastrous evening at home in Europe, going down to Portugal’s Braga with a 4-2 score at the Olympic Stadium of Athens.
The visitors led 2-0 from the first 10 minutes, goals coming from Vitor Tormena and Ricardo Esgaio. AEK pulled one back with Nelson Oliveira, but two more goals, by Ricardo Horta and Galeno, sealed victory for the Portuguese. The Yellows simply added a second by Stavros Vassilantonopoulos at the end.
AEK is bottom of its pool with three points from five games.
PAOK was the favorite against Omonia at Nicosia, but suffered a 2-1 loss that has left it on five points from as many games.
The Cypriots, who scored their first ever Europa League victory, advanced with an early Andronikos Kakoullis goal, but PAOK drew level with Christos Tzolis before half-time and looked good to win the game having more possession and chances.
However the Thessaloniki giant got punished six minutes from time through a Jordi Lopez penalty kick, that means PAOK cannot progress anymore, with one game still left to play.
