Răzvan Lucescu, the much revered PAOK manager who led the team to the Double in 2018–19 and had major success with Al–Hilal, along with his assistant Cristiano Bacci, returned to the club in the pre–season, but the struggle against Bohemians was met with intense criticism and backlash.

A last minute own–goal by Niko Galešić gave PAOK a 1–1 draw at home against Croatian club Rijeka, which was met with more criticism, with many fearing that the team was not capable of advancing to the group stage of the new competition.

Contrary to the first match at home, PAOK won 0–2 at Stadion Rujevica and managed to advance to the group stage.

The team easily disarmed AEL in the Greek Football Cup in December before memorably knocking out rivals AEK in the quarter–finals, courtesy of two late goals from club top scorer Jasmin Kurtić and Alexandru Mitriță after PAOK were 1–0 down on aggregate at the Olympic Stadium.

Last updated: 26 May 2021Source: [1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.