PAOK - Club: the Club Facts

Tomorrow is the return match in the Conference League quarterfinals against PAOK FC. With a semifinal, the stakes are high, but what else do you need to know about the match? Find out with the Club Facts!

The match

Thursday marks European match number sixteen of this season. That equals the record from the 2014/15 European campaign, when Club stranded in the quarter-finals against Ukraine's Dnipro. In its history, Club has played European 359 times, PAOK FC 234 times.

Six times before, Blue-Black went to Greece, with varying degrees of success. Three times it won, and just as many times FCB drew the short straw. That includes a trip to Thessaloniki. In 2010, the away game against PAOK FC ended 1-1.

If we dig a little deeper into our European past, we see that Club won the outward game in a European knockout phase 1-0 eleven times before. That resulted in qualification for the next round six times. So the outward match against PAOK FC was also won. Early in the match Jutglà served Vetlesen after a long drawn-out attack, after which the midfielder neatly headed in the 1-0. Despite the dominance and many chances, it remained 1-0.

The win was already win number eleven this season in Europe, also equaling the European campaign in 2014/15. Another striking statistic: Blue-Black has already scored in every match since the group stage, something no other team has managed this season.

Club will have to do without the suspended Maxim De Cuyper, Igor Thiago and Brandon Mechele on Thursday. For Brandon Mechele, this marks the end of a run of 46 consecutive games in which the defender has appeared in action each time.

Top shooter in Europe is still Andreas Skov Olsen with 7 goals, the highest number of goals in one European season by a Club player (along with Joseph Akpala). The suspended Maxim De Cuyper is the best Bruges striker in Europe, with four assists.

This season, Club has already scored 119 goals. The highest number of goals ever scored in a single Brugge season is 136, also that was in the 2014/15 season.

If Club can reach the semifinals, it will do so for the first time in 32 years. It has been since 1992 when Club faced Werder Bremen in the semifinals of European Cup II. A year later, Antwerp was the last Belgian Club to reach a European semifinal so far.

The winner of the game Fiorentina - Viktoria Pilzen (out game 0-0) at 18:45 will be Club's or PAOK's opponent in the semifinals.

The opponent

PAOK FC is thus the opponent to face in our quarterfinals. The Greeks expect a full Toumba Stadium with over 28,000 fans. Among them, some 1,000 Club fans will be present.

PAOK's home reputation boosts the Greeks' confidence. This season they have not yet lost at home in Europe (5 wins, 2 draws) and for the last European defeat at home we have to go back two years already (0-1 loss against Marseille in Conference League quarterfinals). Moreover, PAOK scored at least two goals each time in their last six home games.

In the past, it thrust through three times in a European knockout stage by picking up a 1-0 deficit from the outward game. In the previous round, PAOK itself lost the outward match 2-0 to Dinamo Zagreb, but was able to secure qualification at home by winning 5-1.

The outward match at Jan Breydel was the last game PAOK played. Romanian coach Razvan Lucescu's troops were allowed to rest last weekend after their playoff match against Olympiacos was postponed. As a result, PAOK FC did lose its lead as first pursuers AEK Athens and Panathinaikos won their match of the 5th match day in the playoffs. PAOK is now third in the standings.

Milestones

• Hans Vanaken can play his 440th official game for Club Brugge. He thus surpasses Club legend Timmy Simons who played 439 times for Club.
• Philip Zinckernagel can be in action for Club for the 40th time. The Dane can also play the 20th European match of his career. He played 10 European matches for Club, 6 for Olympiacos FC (Gre) and 3 for FK Bodø/Glimt (Nor).
• Nordin Jackers may be between the posts for the 10th time at Blauw-Zwart.
• If Casper Nielsen gets fit, he can play the 20th European match for FCB.
• Kyriani Sabbe can play his 10th European match for Club.

The referee

Italian referee Davide Massa was appointed ref for the match in Thessaloniki. He will be assisted by his compatriots Filippo Meli and Stefano Alassio.

The fourth official is Marco Di Bello and VAR on duty is Aleandro Di Paolo, assisted by Luca Pairetto.

The UEFA referee observer is Sweden's Martin Hansson. The UEFA representative is Montenegrin Milovan Đukanović.

Massa is a 42-year-old UEFA elite ref (highest category). He hails from the northwestern Italian coastal city of Imperia. He has been whistling in Serie A since 2011 and at the international level for 10 years.

This will already be the fourth time he will conduct an official match of Club Brugge. He previously whistled Champions League matches at home against Atlético Madrid (0-0 in 2018), RB Leipzig (0-5 in 2021) and SL Benfica (0-2 in 2023).