PAOK vs Brann

PAOK welcome Norwegian side Brann to their Toumba Stadium home on Thursday evening for the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round tie, with a place in the league phase at stake. The Greek side dropped into this competition after a dramatic and contentious Europa League qualifying exit to Belgian outfit Anderlecht.

Team News and Injury Latest

PAOK will be without two key players for the first leg. Andrija Živković and Alexander Jeremejeff are both suspended after being sent off in stoppage time during the chaotic 3-2 defeat at Anderlecht last week. A melee broke out following a late penalty, and the subsequent red cards mean the pair will sit out the opening leg of this play-off tie. Manager Răzvan Lucescu must now reshuffle his attack for this crucial encounter.

There is no specific squad information available from the Brann camp as of yet. The Norwegian club's official squad list for the play-off round has not been released, but they are expected to arrive in Thessaloniki with a clean bill of health after navigating the earlier qualifying rounds.

PAOK Form Guide

PAOK's European campaign has been full of incident. They entered the Europa League third qualifying round against Anderlecht looking to overturn a 1-0 home deficit from the first leg. In Belgium, they found themselves 1-0 down early via a Biancon effort, making the tie 2-0 on aggregate. Goals from Giannis Konstantelias and a Made Camara effort that was eventually ruled out for offside by VAR briefly sparked hope, and Jeremejeff's late penalty set up a tense finish. However, Anderlecht held firm, and the late dismissal of two PAOK players compounded a painful exit.

Earlier in the summer, the Greek side had navigated a fixture against Dynamo Kyiv impressively, winning 3-2 away and 2-0 at home to secure a 5-2 aggregate success in the second qualifying round.

Brann's European Journey

Brann have already demonstrated their resilience in the Conference League qualifiers. They beat Universitatea Cluj 3-1 at home in the second round to progress 5-3 on aggregate. Their third-round tie proved to be a thriller: after a narrow 1-0 loss in the away leg, Brann fought back on home soil to score four times in a 4-2 victory over Apollon Limassol, forcing extra time before sealing a 4-3 aggregate triumph. That dramatic comeback will have injected serious belief into the squad ahead of their trip to Greece.

Key Battle: Konstantelias vs Brann's Defence

With Jeremejeff suspended, the creative burden on Giannis Konstantelias increases significantly. The young Greek attacking midfielder was on the scoresheet in Brussels and possesses the close control and vision to unlock a compact Brann defence. The Norwegian side have conceded in both their away legs so far in this qualifying campaign, and keeping Konstantelias quiet will be essential if they are to return to Bergen with the tie alive.

The second leg takes place in Norway on 27 August, where the winner will secure a place in the new league phase of the UEFA Europa Conference League.