Razvan Lucescu lined up his  team with Pavlenka in goal, Baba and Sastre on the defensive flanks, Lovren and Kedziora the central defensives duo, while Ozdoev and Meite started in central midfield. Then a trio of Andrija Zivkovic , Taison and Pelkas were behind lone frontman Giakoumakis .

PAOK had complete control of the match throughout the first half, with Pavlenka essentially reduced to the role of a spectator, apart from one long shot by Sielis, which was impressively saved by the Czech, while the Double-headed Eagle, on their part, had 78% of the possession and five attempts on goal, but without finding the back of the net.

Sastre was the first to threaten with a long shot, but the ball rebounded and went for a corner. Pelkas suffered an injury problem in the 15th minute and was replaced by Konstantelias . PAOK continued to press, had some good moments via Konstantelias but still there was no clinical end product. PAOK created two further chances, but the 0-0 scoreline did not change until the half-time break.

In the second half, Lucescu’s team started strongly and looked more convincing, initially threatening with a direct free-kick by A. Zivkovic that was blocked by Chavez, while shortly afterwards the Serb took the ball from Konstantelias and executed a shot but the ball flashed wide.

In the 53rd minute, Meite headed the ball to Giakoumakis but his effort from close range missed the target. In the 59th minute, PAOK kept the ball and looked to create chances, with Ozdoev crossing for Giakoumakis , but the latter again failed to score. In the 62nd minute, PAOK won a free-kick, but Ozdoev’s shot was stopped by the visitors’ defensive wall.

Panaitolikos tried to react and had a good chance thorugh Nkololo with a header that was blocked by Pavlenka , while in the 72nd minute, the visitors had the ball in the net, but the goal was ruled out for a foul in the beginning of the phase of play.

PAOK responded with a header from Giakoumakis after a cross from Despodov , while the Double-headed Eagle then had a numerical advantage after Garcia was sent off for a tough foul on Giakoumakis in the 83rd minute. A minute later, PAOK had another great chance with Kamara getting a header on target but Chavez parried it for a corner. Kamara then had two more headers, Despodov threatened with a shot, as did Kedziora, but the ball just would not go in forte home side and the 0-0 scoreline remained intact until the final whistle.

Team lineups:

PAOK: Pavlenka, Sastre, Baba, Kedziora, Lovren, Ozdoev (72′ Kamara), Meite, Pelkas (16′ Konstantelias), Taison, A. Zivkovic (72′ Despodov), Giakoumakis (86′ Chalov).

Panaitolikos: Chavez, Galiatsos (80′ Stajic), Garcia, Manrique, Sielis, Kojic (57′ Bouhalakis), Kontouris (80′ Nikolaou), Michalak, Belevonis (57′ Enkololo), Esteban, Aguirre (72′ Aleksic).