2010–11 Superleague Greece

Superleague Greece

Season	2010–11
Champions	Olympiacos 38th title
Relegated	Olympiakos Volou Kavala Larissa Panserraikos Iraklis
Champions League	Olympiacos Panathinaikos
Europa League	P.A.O.K. AEK Olympiakos Volou
Matches played	240
Goals scored	528 (2.2 per match)
Top goalscorer	Djibril Cissé (20)
Biggest home win	Olympiacos 6–0 AEK Olympiacos 6–0 AEL
Biggest away win	Aris 0–4 AEK AEK 0–4 Olymp. Volou
Highest scoring	Kerkyra 3–4 Aris
← 2009–10 2011–12 →

The 2010–11 Superleague Greece was the 52nd season of the highest football league of Greece and the fifth under the name Superleague. The league consisted of 16 teams, the 13 best teams of the 2009–10 season and three teams that had been promoted from the 2009–10 Beta Ethniki.

The season began on 27 August 2010 with the first matches of the regular season^[1] and ended on 25 May 2011 with the last matches of the European playoff round.^[2] Panathinaikos were the defending champions, having won their 20th Greek championship in the 2009–10 season.

The season was marred by Koriopolis, a match-fixing scandal which involved several teams from the top three leagues of Greek football.

Season summary

Title race

The league was won by Olympiacos Piraeus, who earned their 38th Greek league title. They finished with a 13-point lead over runners-up Panathinaikos, who had to compete in a play-off round which determined the exact allocation of spots for both European competitions.

Panathinaikos was joined in the play-offs by third-placed club and city rivals AEK Athens, fourth-placed PAOK from Thessaloniki and fifth-placed Olympiakos Volou. Panathinaikos eventually won the play-off group and thus earned the second Greek spot in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League. Since AEK had already won the 2010–11 Greek Cup competition a few weeks earlier and thus were already qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, both PAOK and Olympiakos Volos were guaranteed a spot in that competition as well.

Relegation

After thirty matches, the relegation spots were occupied by 14th-placed Asteras Tripolis, 15th-placed Larissa and last-placed Panserraikos. However, all three clubs eventually stayed in the league after Iraklis, Kavala and Olympiakos Volou were demoted by separate sports court decisions.

On 19 May 2011, Iraklis were denied a licence for the 2011–12 season over unpaid debts^[3] and thus demoted to the second-level Football League. Soon afterwards, the Thessaloniki club was found guilty of having forged documents during the winter transfer window and put at the end of the standings.^[4]

A few days after the Iraklis verdict, it became evident that several clubs and officials throughout the top leagues of Greek football were involved in a match-fixing scandal. Investigations in the matter were taken all summer. On 28 July 2011, Kavala and Olympiakos Volou were found guilty of having taken part in illegal actions and were therefore demoted to the Football League.^[5] However, both clubs appealed to the decision and they stayed at the Superleague Greece, though they were deducted 8 and 10 points respectively.^[5] On 11 August 2011, UEFA disqualified Olympiakos Volou from further participation in the UEFA Europa League.^[6] Finally on 23 August 2011, the Professional Sports Committee stripped Kavala and Olympiakos Volou of their professional licence, due to their chairmen's involvement in the scandal.^[7]

Teams

Levadiakos, PAS Giannina and Panthrakikos had been relegated at the end of the 2009–10 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the league table. Levadiakos concluded a four-year run in the highest football league of Greece. Panthrakikos finished a two-year tenure with the league, while PAS Giannina had to return to the Football League, formerly known as Beta Ethniki, after just one season.

The three relegated teams were replaced by 2009–10 Beta Ethniki champions Olympiakos Volos, runners-up Kerkyra and promotion playoff winners Panserraikos. Olympiakos Volos returned to the Greek top football level after 20 seasons. Kerkyra ended a three-year absence from the Superleague, while Panserraikos immediately returned to the league.

AEK Athens
Atromitos
Panathinaikos
Panionios

Aris
Iraklis
PAOK

Asteras

Ergotelis

Kavala

Kerkyra

AEL 1964

Olympiacos

Olympiakos V.

Panserraikos

Skoda Xanthi

Location of teams in 2010–11 Superleague Greece

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
AEK Athens	Athens	Athens Olympic Stadium "Spyridon Louis"	69,618
Aris	Thessaloniki	Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium	22,800
Asteras Tripoli	Tripoli	Asteras Tripolis Stadium	6,430
Atromitos	Athens	Peristeri Stadium	8,939
Ergotelis	Heraklion	Pankritio Stadium	26,240
Iraklis	Thessaloniki	Lysandros Kaftanzoglou Stadium	27,770
Kavala	Kavala	Anthi Karagianni Stadium	12,500
Kerkyra	Kerkyra	Kerkyra Stadium	2,685
Larissa	Larissa	AEL FC Arena^1	16,500
Olympiacos	Piraeus	Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium	33,334
Olympiakos Volou	Volos	Panthessaliko Stadium	22,700
Panathinaikos	Athens	Athens Olympic Stadium "Spyridon Louis"	69,618
Panionios	Athens	Nea Smyrni Stadium	11,700
Panserraikos	Serres	Serres Municipal Stadium	10,000
P.A.O.K.	Thessaloniki	Toumba Stadium	28,701
Skoda Xanthi	Xanthi	Skoda Xanthi Arena	7,361

Notes

1. Larissa moved to AEL FC Arena upon its completion in December 2010. Previous matches were hosted at Alcazar Stadium.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Olympiacos (C)	30	24	1	5	65	18	+47	73	2011–12 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Panathinaikos	30	18	6	6	47	26	+21	60	Qualification to European Playoffs
3	AEK Athens	30	15	5	10	46	37	+9	50
4	PAOK	30	14	6	10	32	29	+3	48
5	Olympiakos Volou (DQ)	30	12	11	7	40	28	+12	47	Qualification to the European Playoffs
										Relegation to the 2011–12 Delta Ethniki ^1
6	Aris	30	13	6	11	29	29	0	45
7	Kavala (DQ)	30	10	10	10	29	27	+2	40	Relegation to 2011–12 Delta Ethniki ^1
8	Ergotelis	30	11	6	13	32	38	−6	39
9	Skoda Xanthi	30	9	9	12	29	35	−6	36
10	Panionios	30	8	11	11	25	35	−10	35
11	Atromitos	30	7	13	10	30	34	−4	34
12	Kerkyra	30	9	6	15	30	40	−10	33
13	Asteras Tripoli	30	7	10	13	21	29	−8	31
14	Larissa (R)	30	5	10	15	29	47	−18	25	Relegation to 2011–12 Football League
15	Panserraikos (R)	30	6	6	18	22	48	−26	24
16	Iraklis Thessaloniki (R)	30	7	14	9	22	28	−6	35	Relegation to 2011–12 Football League 2 ^2

Source: Super League Greece
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th decision match
¹ On 28 July 2011, the Disciplinary Committee of the competition found Olympiakos Volou and Kavala guilty of match-fixing. Therefore the clubs were automatically put at the end of the league table and demoted to the Football League. The decision, however, was lifted on 10 August 2011 after both appealed. Instead of that Olympiakos Volou had 10 points deducted and Kavala 8 for the 2011-2012 season. On 23 August 2011, the Professional Sports Committee stripped Kavala and Olympiakos Volou of their professional licence, due to their chairmen's involvement in the match fixing scandal.^[7]
2 On 19 May 2011, the Disciplinary Committee of the competition found Iraklis guilty of forgery during the winter transfer window. Therefore the club was automatically put at the end of the league table and demoted to the Football League.^[4]
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Home ╲ Away

AEK

ARI

AST

ATR

ERG

IRT

KAV

KER

AEL

OLY

OVL

PAT

PIO

PSE

TSP

XAN

AEK Athens

1–2

2–2

1–0

3–1

0–0

1–0

0–0

4–0

1–0

0–4

1–0

1–1

2–0

4–0

1–0

Aris

0–4

1–0

2–0

1–0

0–1

1–0

2–0

1–1

1–2

2–1

0–1

0–2

3–1

0–0

0–2

Asteras Tripoli

0–3

1–2

1–1

3–0

0–0

0–1

0–2

1–1

0–1

2–1

0–0

3–1

0–2

0–0

1–2

Atromitos

1–1

0–0

0–0

1–1

1–1

0–0

4–2

3–0

3–1

2–2

0–1

1–2

2–1

2–2

1–1

Ergotelis

2–3

0–0

0–1

1–1

1–0

2–1

3–0

2–1

0–2^2

0–0

1–4

2–0

2–0

1–2

1–0

Iraklis Thessaloniki

2–0

1–0

0–0

1–0

1–1

0–1

0–0

1–0

2–1

0–0

1–3

1–1

1–1

0–0

1–1

Kavala

2–1

0–1

1–0

1–1

3–1

3–0

1–0

1–0

0–1

0–1

2–2

2–1

0–0

0–1

1–1

Kerkyra

2–1

3–4

1–2

3–1

1–0

0–0

1–1

1–0

0–2

1–3

0–2

1–2

3–0

2–1

1–1

Larissa

2–3

2–2

0–2

1–0

3–3

2–1

0–0

1–1

0–1

1–2

2–0

0–1

2–1

1–2

3–0

Olympiacos

6–0

1–0

3–0

2–1

3–0

2–0

3–1

2–0

6–0

3–1

2–1

5–0

4–2

3–0

1–0

Olympiakos Volou

3–1

1–1

1–1

2–0

0–1

1–1

1–1

1–0

1–1

0–1

3–2

0–0

3–0

0–3

3–0

Panathinaikos

3–1

1–0

1–0

1–1

2–0

4–2

4–2

2–1

1–1

2–1

0–1

2–1

2–0

1–0

1–1

Panionios

1–0

1–0

0–0

0–1

0–1

1–0

1–1

0–1

3–3

1–1

0–1

1–1

0–0

1–0

0–2

Panserraikos

1–3

1–0

0–1

0–1

0–4

1–2

1–0

0–2

1–0

0–1

2–2

1–0

1–1

1–1

2–1

PAOK

2–1

0–1

1–0

0–1

2–0

1–0

0–2

2–0

1–0

2–1

1–1

0–1

3–1

3–2

2–1

Skoda Xanthi

0–2

1–2

1–0

3–0

0–1

2–2

1–1

2–1

1–1

0–3

1–0

0–2

1–1

2–0

1–0

Updated to games played on 17 April 2011.
Source: Super League Greece
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
² The match, originally scheduled on 13 November 2010, was suspended at half time due to heavy rain. The remaining minutes were completed on 24 November 2010.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

In the play-off for Champions League, the four teams play each other in a home and away round robin. However, they do not all start with 0 points. Instead, a weighting system applies to the teams' standing at the start of the play-off mini-league. The team finishing fifth in the Super League will start the play-off with 0 points. The fifth placed team's end of season tally of points is subtracted from the sum of the points that other teams have. This number is then divided by five and rounded to the nearest whole number of points, if necessary, to give the other teams the points with which they start the mini-league.

Fifth-placed club Olympiakos Volou earned 47 points during the regular season. Based on this number and the calculations above, Panathinaikos as runners-up will begin the playoff with three points ((60–47)/5 = 2.6, rounded up to 3), while AEK Athens will start with one point ((50–47)/5 = 0.6, rounded up to 1) and P.A.O.K. with no points ((48–47)/5 = 0.2, rounded down to 0).

Playoff table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Panathinaikos	6	3	1	2	9	5	+4	13	2011–12 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
3	PAOK	6	4	0	2	11	8	+3	12	2011–12 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
4	AEK Athens	6	2	1	3	6	6	0	8	2011–12 UEFA Europa League Play-off round ^1
5	Olympiakos Volou	6	2	0	4	5	12	−7	6	2011–12 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round

Source: http://www.superleaguegreece.net/standings/#playoff
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored
¹AEK Athens have won the 2010–11 Greek Cup and are therefore qualified for the playoff round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. As a consequence, the fourth-placed team of this group also entered the Europa League.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Head-to-Head: used when head-to-head record is used to rank tied teams.

Results

Home ╲ Away	AEK	OVL	PAT	TSP
AEK Athens		1–0	0–2	3–0
Olympiakos Volou	1–0		2–1	1–2
Panathinaikos	1–1	3–0		1–0
PAOK	2–1	5–1	2–1

Source: http://www.superleaguegreece.net/schedule
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Including matches played on 17 April 2011; Source: Soccerway Rank Player Club Goals 1 Djibril Cissé Panathinaikos 20 2 Kevin Mirallas Olympiacos 14 3 David Fuster Olympiacos 13 4 Rafik Djebbour AEK Athens/Olympiacos 12 5 Benjamin Onwuachi Kavala 10 6 Ismael Blanco AEK Athens 9 Denis Epstein Kerkyra 9 Kostas Mitroglou Olympiacos/Panionios 9 Marko Pantelić Olympiacos 9 Nacho Scocco AEK 9

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists[8] 1 Djamel Abdoun Kavala 8 Javier Umbides Olympiakos Volos 8 Albert Riera Olympiacos 8 4 Kostas Katsouranis Panathinaikos 6 Djibril Cissé Panathinaikos 6 Ariel Ibagaza Olympiacos 6

References

1. "Schedule of the 2010–11 season". Superleague Greece. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
2. "Super League Greece – Champions Öeague qualifiers Play-off fixtures and results". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
3. "Αnnouncement for the teams receiving UEFA licence for the 2011–12 season (in greek)". Hellenic Football Federation. epo.gr. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
4. "Disciplinary Committee – Decision 195/2011" (PDF) (in Greek). Superleague Greece. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
5. "Υποβιβάζονται Ολυμπιακός Βόλου και Καβάλα!". Enet.gr. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
6. "Differdange to replace Olympiacos Volou". UEFA. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
7. "Olympiakos Volou and Kavala to Delta Ethniki" (in Greek). Contra.gr. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
8. Greek Super League Statistics

External links

• Official website (Greek)