PAOK outclasses Rijeka, Croatian champion moves to Conference League

Rijeka's players were defeated by Greek side PAOK 5:0 in Thessaloniki, giving up the goal advantage they took into the game from the first leg of the Europa League play-offs. After being eliminated from the Champions League qualifiers, the reigning Croatian league and cup champions will now continue their European aspirations in the Conference League.

Soualiho Meite opened the scoring for PAOK in the 12th minute of play on a header following a cross from the corner from Andrija Živković. The Greek side closed out the half with a two goal lead, after Giannis Konstantelias scored in the 25th minute of play. Only twelve minutes into the second half Fedor Čalov scored to give PAOK a three goal lead in the game. Things turned even worse for Rijeka in the 71st minute of play when Ante Majstorović was sent off after earning his second yellow card. Goals from Georgios Giakoumakis and Dimitrios Pelkas in the 76th and 89th minutes of play brought the game to a final score of 5:0.

The only consolation for coach Radomir Đalović’s team is that they had already secured a place in the third tier of European football, the Conference League. This will mark the fifth time they have qualified for a European competition. Rijeka made their first appearance in the Europa League group stage in the 2013/14 season under coach Matjaž Kek. A season later, Rijeka also qualified for the Europa League group stage. In the 2017/18 season, Rijeka entered the Champions League as the Croatian champions, but after losing in the play-offs to Olympiacos, they continued to compete in the Europa League group stage. Rijeka last played in the Euroleague group stage in the 2020/21 season.

The draws for both the Europa League and the Conference League were held in Monaco today, with Rijeka scheduled to play its home games against Czech side Sparta Prague, Celje of Slovenia and AEK Larnaca of Cyprus, while its away games will be against Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar and Armenian side Noah.

Another Croatian club, Dinamo Zagreb, qualified for the Europa League and will play its home games against Spanish sides Real Betis and Celta Vigo, Turkish Fenerbahce and Romanian FCSB, while its away games will be played against French side Lille, Israel's Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Danish side Midtjylland, and Sweden's Malmö.

The match schedule for both competitions should be announced no later than Sunday August 31st.

Source: HRT