If one leaves out the first quarter, when Olympiacos seemed to be playing higher up the pitch, then PAOK not only completely balanced out the game, but went on to dominate it. In the 17th minute, Tsintsolis said «no» to perhaps the home team’s biggest opportunity and from then on, the Double-headed Eagle were a constant threat to the opposition goal. In the 28th minute, Hatsidis scored, but after a VAR check, the goal was correctly disallowed, as our player committed a foul at the beginning of the phase of play. PAOK continued, of course, recording, among other things, two good attempts on goal. In the 34th minute, Kesidis fired a good shot which flashed narrowly wide, while with another shot, in the 45th minute – by Almasidis this time – came close to opening the scoring, with Kouraklis blocking it.

The pace dropped in the second half – which was expected given the high temperatures – with the match being largely balanced, although PAOK did have their chances, several of which were wasted, with the black and whites being rather profligate. Tsintsolis reacted as he should to Olympiacos’ dangerous attack in the 52nd minute, as did Bataoulas with a stunning clearance in the 56th minute. The best chances, however, belonged to PAOK. In the 76th minute, Papageorgiou’s header, in the 83rd minute, Tsifoutis’ shot, in the 93rd minute, Koupenos‘ shot, and in the 96th minute and 97th minutes, Hatsidis’ also missed from a one-on-one situation, meanining at 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes, extra time beckoned.

Extra time began with a VAR review of a penalty awarded to Olympiacos, but the decision was rightly reversed again, as there was an attacking foul at the start of the phase of play. The match, with the players from both teams putting their hearts and souls into it, took on a wild beauty with Berdos coming very close to scoring in the 115th minute and Tsintsolis making a stunning double save in the 118th minute. In the 120th minute, Berdos was brought down, the foul this time was unquestionable – it was indicated also by the VAR. Kosidis kept his cool and calmly slotted his spot-kick home for PAOK to celebrate wildly with a trophy they truly deserved.

Team lineups:

Olympiakos: Kouraklis, Theodoridis (68′ Karkatsalis), Rolakis, Dama, Tanoulis, Liatsikouras, Yousouf (68′ Toufakis), Plis (80′ Filis), Sila (106′ Vassilakopoulos), Pneumonidis (106′ Tzamalis), Alafakis (120′ Ligdas)

PAOK: Tsintsolis, Panikidis (46′ Koupenos), Polykratis (114′ Avrambos), Kosidis, Bataoulas, Almasidis (117′ Toursounidis), Scznauczner, Kesidis (66′ Papageorgiou), Mythos (82′ Tsifoutis), Balde (106′ Berdos), Hatsidis.