Greek Clubs Fail to Qualify for Champions League; Only 3 Appear in Europa League 2016-2017

This year there won’t be any representation by Greek  Super League clubs in the Champions League tournament. Olympiacos and PAOK both had opportunities to qualify, but were both knocked out in the 3rd Qualifying round. As such, they were relegated to the playoff round of Europa League (the runner-up tournament) where they joined Panathinaikos in an attempt to qualify for this tournament.

In two matches, Olympiacos beat Portugal’s Arouca with an aggregate score of 3-1, PAOK beat Georgia’s Dinamo Tbilisi with an aggregate score of 5-0 and Panathinaikos beat Denmark’s Brondby with an aggregate score of 4-1; earning themselves a spot UEFA’s Europa League. 

Below is the draw for each club. 

In Group B, Olympiacos will not only be competing against a tough club in Switzerland’s Young Boys, but in dramatic fashion against Cyprus’ APOEL, too. 

In group G, Panathinaikos drew Amsterdam’s Ajax, the club responsible for knocking PAOK out of  Champion’s League qualification in the 3rd Qualification Round. 

And finally in group J, PAOK’s toughest challenge will be facing Italy’s Fiorentina.
None of the 3 clubs have an easy road, but I would guess that Olympiacos and PAOK have the best chances of moving on. With that said, however, all 3 Greek Clubs should move on as the top 2 teams from each group, along with 8 of the 12 third place finishers, will advance from the Group stage to the first elimination stage, the Round of 32. 

And for those of you that just want to see the Champions League draw, here it is.