Club Brugge-PAOK is a match valid for the first leg of the Conference League quarterfinals and is played Thursday at 9 p.m.: live TV, probable formations, predictions.
Reaching the Conference League quarterfinals was not enough for the now former Club Brugge coach Ronny Deila, who was exonerated during the break for national team commitments. The league defeat to St. Truidense was fatal to him, yet another misstep for the Nerazzurri, who are far from the top of the Belgian Pro League. The new coach, Nicky Hayen, made his debut with a draw (1-1 in the derby with Cercle Brugge) and a clear victory over Anderlecht (3-1), boosting his confidence ahead of the quarterfinal against PAOK Greeks.
Club Brugge in the round of 16 had disposed of the tricky Norwegians Molde despite a 2-1 defeat in the first leg in Norway. With the support of the crowd at the “Jan Breydel” Stadium, Vanaken and his teammates were subsequently unleashed in the return leg, overwhelming the Scandinavians 3-0 thanks in part to a brace from former Bologna man Skov Olsen. A similar performance will be needed in the first round against PAOK, a team that is far more dangerous at home than away. Club Brugge must do everything to get a positive result at home, because it could be complicated then to come back in the HCL bowl.
After a brilliant group stage – Eintracht Frankfurt was also in the group – the men led by Razvan Lucescu in the round of 16 took the scalp of Dinamo Zagreb, scoring five goals on the return leg in Greece (5-1) and thus archiving the defeat suffered seven days earlier in Croatia (2-0). PAOK also leads the Greek Super League standings, one point ahead of AEK Athens, with whom it drew 2-2 in last Sunday’s head-to-head clash.
The prediction
Two teams with similar values and a double-header in which it is difficult to identify a clear favorite. The first leg, in any case, should belong to Club Brugge, which will take advantage of PAOK’s uninspiring external performance.
The likely lineups of Club Brugge-PAOK
CLUB BRUGGE (4-2-3-1): Jackers; Odoi, Spileers, Mechele, Meijer; Onyedika, Vetlesen; Skov Olsen, Zinckernagel, De Cuyper; Igor.
PAOK (4-1-4-1): Kotarski; Jonny, Kedziora, Koulierakis, Baba; Meité; Zivkovic, Konstantelias, Taison, Despodov; Brandon.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
