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The Best Greek Teams in the European Competitions

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Some Greek teams reached crucial stages in the European competitions before Olympiakos’ success in Conference League this season.

Olympiakos has stunned the fans after crushing the favourite, Aston Villa, in the Conference League semi-final. Jose Mendilibar's men finally clinch the title after securing a narrow 1-0 win over the runner-up in the previous edition, Fiorentina. Their emergence in the continental final is surely quite shocking.  Let alone winning it. Once in a while, the Greek teams did manage to advance to the crucial stage. Here are the Greek teams that could reach their furthest stages in the previous three major club competitions in Europe.

Olympiakos in the UEFA Winners Cup 1993

Before their outstanding campaign in the Conference League this season, Olympiakos did it before in the second-tier continental competition in the past, which has been abolished, the Winners Cup. Back in the 1992–93 season, they managed to reach the quarterfinals. Such might not be as far as PAOK Salonika in 1974, Larissa in 1985, AEK Athens in 1997 and 1998, or Panionios in 1999. Yet, what Olympiakos went through was more stunning than that of his other Greek counterparts. 

In the 1992–93 season, the Greek side was led by the notable Ukrainian boss, Oleg Blokhin. They eliminated Ukraine’s Chernomorets Odessa by a 3-1 win on aggregate in the first round. In the second round, Olympiakos surprisingly picked up a 1-0 win over Arsene Wenger’s Monaco on the road. Monaco was the tournament’s runner-up in the previous season. In the second leg, Oleg Protasov and Co. were able to hold the Ligue 1 side in a stalemate. Unfortunately, their campaign ended in the eighth round. They were unable to ease past Atletico Madrid and were beaten 4-2 on aggregate (1-1; 1-3).

AEK Athens in the UEFA Cup 1977                                         

In UEFA Cup, AEK Athens’ campaign was even better. They managed to go through the semifinals in 1976/77. The capital side had an underrated yet experienced manager, Frantisek Fadrhonc. He was the Czech boss who guided the Netherlands to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup before he was replaced byRinus Michels for the final round. 

Fadrhonc was able to guide AEK Athens to the final four after seeing off several more established teams, such as Dynamo Moscow in the first round, two English teams, Derby County and QPR in the second round and quarterfinals, and Red Star Belgrade in the third round. Their most dramatic result was probably in the round of 8, as they already suffered a 3-0 defeat in the first leg. Yet Fadrhonc’s men managed to make a superb comeback by trashing the English side 3-0 at home before eliminating Trevor Francis and Co. on penalties. Unfortunately, they were running out of steam in the semifinal. The eventual champions, Juventus, ran rampant and hammered AEK in a 5-1 win on aggregate (4-1; 1-0). 

Panathinaikos in the Champions League 1971

This was probably the best campaign for Greek clubs in European football. Panathinaikos surprisingly advanced to the final of the 1971 European Cup to take on Ajax Amsterdam. They had been out of the radar since the team was never a favourite, despite having the legendary Ferenc Puskas on the sidelines.

The Hungarian legende seemed to bring the magic again from the dugout. He was able to lead Panathinaikos to the summit after knocking out Luxembourg’s Jeunesse Ech and Czechoslovakia’s Slovan Bratislava before eventually meeting two stronger sides, English champions Everton and Red Star Belgrade. They saw them off relying on away goal rules with 1-1 and 4-4 on aggregate. Puskas’s men eventually had to surrender in the final, as they were hapless against the star-studded Dutch team with Johan Cryuff and Johan Neeskens on the pitch. Panathinaikos’ European campaign ended in a 2-0 defeat at Wembley Stadium. 

 

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