Football in Greece

Greek clubs completed a week with three games in Europe and no goals scored, as after AEK's 3-0 loss to Ajax for the Champions League on Wednesday, PAOK went down 1-0 at home to Chelsea and Olympiakos shared a goalless draw with visiting Real Betis for the Europa League.

Three second-half goals condemned AEK to a 3-0 loss at Ajax in the Greek champion's opening night in the Champions League on Wednesday.

AEK's unbeaten run of 14 games in Europe came to a resounding end as the Athens team generally got what it deserved, particularly in the second half at Amsterdam.

AEK, PAOK, Olympiakos and Panathinaikos extended their perfect start to the Super League season to three wins in as many matches, with the Yellows and the Reds sitting pretty at the top of the table on Sunday evening. They may be joined by Aris on Monday night.

Greece began its campaign in the new UEFA tournament, the Nations League with a 1-0 win at Estonia on Saturday, but was only convincing in the first half and left much to be desired in the second.

AEK, PAOK, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos and Aris doubled up their wins at the second round of Super League games over the weekend.

Champion AEK had a hard time beating Asteras at Tripoli on Saturday, winning 1-0 thanks to a Petros Mantalos first-half penalty kick.

The going is getting tougher for Greek clubs in Europe as the group stage draws for the Champions League and the Europa League have offered them serious challenges for the months to come.

AEK Athens battled into the Champions League group stage Tuesday after scraping a 1-1 home draw with FC Vidi after a 2-1 win in the first leg in Hungary.

Petros Mantalos gave AEK a 48th-minute lead with a penalty but the Greek side skated on thin ice after Loic Nego equalized on the night with a delightful lob and the home side's Helder Lopes was sent off in the 81st minute.

Olympiacos FC beat Burnley FC 3-1 at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus on Thursday to move closer to the UEFA Europa League group stage.

The score opened for Olympiacos in the 19th minute with Kostas Fortounis, but the English team equalized in the 33rd minute with a penalty shot by Chris Wood.

Greek champions AEK Athens put themselves in the driving seat with a 2-1 win at Hungary's Vidi FC on Wednesday.

Vidi and AEK each had a player sent off and the Greek side benefited soon after the home team's striker Szabolcs Huszti was shown a straight red card for a reckless foul midway through the first half.

Neither Asteras Tripolis nor Atromitos did manage to advance in the Europa League, failing to score victories at home in the return games held in Greece on Thursday.

Both the Asteras vs Hibernian and the Atromitos vs Dinamo Brest games finished 1-1 for the second qualifying round, leaving Olympiakos as the only Greek club left in the competition.