Previous meetings
The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition. It is also the first time Shamrock Rovers have faced a team from Greece, and PAOK a club from Ireland.
This is only the second time that Greek and Irish sides have met in a UEFA club competition tie; back in the first round of the 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, Panathinaikos FC beat Rovers’ Dublin neighbours Shelbourne FC 3-0 at home and 2-1 away.
Match background
PAOK are unbeaten in their last seven European games, recording three wins and four draws since a 1-0 home defeat by PFC CSKA Moskva in last season’s UEFA Europa League round of 32; the only home defeat in their last ten UEFA games.
Prior to their 2-1 extra-time win against FK Partizan in this season’s UEFA Europa League play-offs, Rovers had not scored in three European fixtures on the road. They lost 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur FC on matchday two.