Patrick Keddie reports
When PAOK played host to fellow title
contenders Olympiakos in February,
a drone hovered above the Toumba
Stadium while down in the stands the
home fans raised a guttural wall of noise
and lit an inferno of flares. Hundreds of
police were at the ready for trouble.
The game itself was a largely drab
affair, with Olympiakos claiming a vital
1-0 victory, but the seething spectacle
was an appropriate backdrop for what
has become Greek football’s most
explosive rivalry in recent years.
PAOK of Thessaloniki versus
Olympiakos from the Athens port
of Piraeus is north Greece versus
south Greece, second city versus
capital, emerging power versuseye
witness
GREECESuper League civil war
Red-hot rivalry...PAOK
fans light flares during
February’s clash with
Olympiakos (in blue)