Will the Romanians finish the job at home?
Until shortly before half-time, everything went according to plan for the Greek team in the first leg. The Thessaloniki team led 1-0 at home before Taison was sent off with a yellow-red card in the fourth minute of stoppage time (45+4). In the second half, the Romanians then turned on, turned the game around and secured an excellent starting position with a 2-1 away win. If the tip for the away win by the Greeks does not come true against FCSB Bucharest against PAOK Saloniki, the Asprómavri would be out.
However, there is not much to suggest that the forecast for the guests will come true against FCSB Bucharest against PAOK Saloniki. After all, the two teams have already faced each other in the league phase of the Europa League. And FCSB also won that game, putting them two wins ahead in the head-to-head comparison. In view of the fact that the red-and-blues only need a draw to defend the victory from the first leg, they shouldn’t have to work too hard.
The hosts are expected to be focused and to want to keep a clean sheet first and foremost. PAOK Salonika scored an impressive 13 goals in the nine matches in the Europa League main round. However, they only scored one goal in both matches against the Romanians, which is why we do not expect the second leg to be too high-scoring, especially considering that FCSB have only conceded ten goals in nine games.
FCSB Bucharest – Statistics & current form
Steaua București, under their old name Steaua Bucharest once the first Eastern European club to win the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, secured the national championship in Romania for the first time in nine years last summer.
However, the red-and-blues (Romanian: Roș-albaștrii) did not make it back to the Champions League. But the capital city club did brilliantly in the Europa League group stage, picking up 14 out of a possible 28 points to finish 11th in the final table.
FCSB Bucharest has a knack for Greek clubs
The team are now keen to progress to the last 16, where they could face either Olympique Lyon or Eintracht Frankfurt. Coach Elias Charalambous’s players have already taken the first step towards reaching the next round with a 2-1 away win in Thessaloniki, putting them in an excellent position.
Accordingly, the odds are good for FCSB Bucharest against PAOK Saloniki, tipping that the ticket for the next round will be successfully resolved on Thursday evening at Arena Națională. After all, there was only one defeat among the last five European competitive matches against teams from Greece (two wins, two draws).
FCSB Bucharest is the league leader again
The capital city team also passed the dress rehearsal at the weekend with flying colors. An important 2-0 away win at bottom-of-the-league Buzau saw the red and blues retake top spot in the league if CFR Cluj slip up, and they are brimming with confidence as a result.
Expected line-up of FCSB Bucharest:
PAOK Saloniki – Statistics & current form
Panathenaic Salonica Sports Club of the Constantinopolitans – PAOK for short – is based in the Macedonian port city of Thessaloniki. Internationally, there have been no resounding successes yet – so far, they have only made it to the European quarter finals three times (European Cup Winners’ Cup 1974 and Conference League 2022 and 2024).
At domestic level, however, the Asprómavri (in English: the White and Blacks) secured their fourth championship last summer. However, the double-headed eagle from the north (in Greek: Dikefalos tou Vorra) then missed out on qualifying for the Champions League.
A special game for Răzvan Lucescu
In the Europa League group stage, PAOK also conceded a whopping four defeats (three wins, one draw) and only just made it into the playoffs as 22nd in the final table thanks to an improvement in performance in the second half.
Of all things, this is where the third competitive game against FCSB will now take place, which is of course a very special match for PAOK coach Răzvan Lucescu, who was born in Bucharest. Overall, however, there has rarely been a chance for the Asprómavri against Romanian clubs. Four defeats in five competitive matches so far (one win).
To make matters worse, not only does the culprit from the first leg, Taison, now have to serve a suspension due to a yellow card, but the list of absentees is also remarkably long. Against this background, it is surprising that FCSB Bucharest are still offering odds of 2.57 for the away win of the two-headed eagle against PAOK Saloniki.
The good away record of the Greeks cannot be the reason for the good rating, because in the main rounds of the UEFA competitions (excluding qualifying matches), the Asprómavri have lost five of their last six away games (one win)…
Predicted PAOK Saloniki line-up:
FCSB Bukarest – PAOK Saloniki Head to head / H2H record
Head to head: 2 – 0 – 0
Two meetings have taken place between the two teams so far and both date back to the current season, with the first league clash not taking place until October, before both teams were drawn against each other in the playoffs. In both cases, FCSB Bucharest won by a one-goal margin, meaning that the Romanians are leading the direct comparison against PAOK Saloniki by a comfortable margin.
FCSB Bucharest – PAOK saloniki betting tip
Overall, the betting odds of the top bookmakers for the second leg between FCSB Bucharest and PAOK Thessaloniki are largely balanced, with a slight tendency towards the guests, who, on paper, have the slightly more notable squad. However, the Romanians have won both direct duels in the 2024/25 season and are now starting with a lead at home, which is a very comfortable position when the away team is forced to play towards scoring. This allows the red-and-blues to sit deep and wait for the opposition to make a mistake.
Although the Greeks have a good team and were able to win three of their last four games in the league phase (one defeat). Nevertheless, the compact defense of the Romanians and the starting position tempt us to make a prediction about the progress of the home team in FCSB Bucharest against PAOK Saloniki.
