Toumba Stadium, where Aberdeen will play on Thursday, is nicknamed “hell” by PAOK supporters – join The Press and Journal on a behind-the-scenes tour of the notoriously intimidating ground.
The Dons will take to the Toumba turf in Thessaloniki tomorrow in the Europa Conference League, and Barry Robson’s Reds will hope to avenge their devastating 3-2 defeat to group leaders PAOK two weeks ago.
Aberdeen, having led 2-0 with fewer than 20 minutes remaining, ended up taking nothing from a game which should have been a famous European victory.
The home side this time around, PAOK held their pre-match press conference on Wednesday at noon local time (10am in the UK).
The Aberdeen fans will only make up a small fraction of supporters in the 28,000-capacity stadium.
Around 800 Dons fans are making the trip to Greece, with some of the earlier arrivals chatting to the P&J on Tuesday evening about their journeys, hopes for the Euro fixture and Aberdeen’s season so far.
They may struggle to make themselves heard at venue renowned for not just the noise made by the PAOK supporters, but also their tifo and pyrotechnic displays.
Though some of these elements may be dampened by tough rules around the use of pyro during Uefa competitions, it is still likely the atmosphere generated by the PAOK fans will be daunting.
Conversation