FCSB will travel to Thessaloniki in Greece for Thursday's meeting with PAOK in the Europa League knockout playoff round.

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PAOK finished in 22nd place in the league phase despite drawing one and losing three of their opening four games in the main draw.

However, they gave their European campaign some much-needed impetus with a 2-0 away win over Rigas FS, before they recorded home victories against Ferencvaros and Slavia Prague without conceding.

Unfortunately for PAOK, their winning run was brought to an end by a 2-0 defeat against Real Sociedad on matchday eight, but they still managed to finish in the top 24 due to their favourable goal difference.

Razvan Lucescu's side are now looking forward to appearing in the knockout rounds for the second season in a row after reaching the quarter-finals of last season's Conference League.

However, PAOK's hopes of reaching the last 16 will be dampened by the fact that they have failed to win all of their previous eight Europa League knockout matches (D3, L5).

The hosts will at least fancy their chances of troubling the FCSB backline, having scored at least two goals in each of their last three European home matches.

FCSB are set to compete in the knockout rounds of a UEFA competition for the first time since 2017-18 after finishing the league phase in 11th position.

The Romanian side collected 14 points across the seven matchdays to leave them in eighth position ahead of the final round of games in the league phase.

However, FCSB ultimately missed out on an automatic last 16 spot after they fell to a 2-0 defeat in their home clash against Manchester United on matchday eight.

As a result of that defeat, they will now have to negotiate a playoff round tie against PAOK if they are to reach the Europa League last-16 for the first time since 2012-13.

Their hopes of claiming a positive result from Thursday's fixture will be tempered by the fact that they have lost each of their last six away major European matches since they beat Real Betis in the UEFA Cup in March 2006.

However, they will certainly take confidence from the fact that they have already recorded an away victory over PAOK this season, claiming a 1-0 victory in October's league phase clash thanks to a Daniel Birligea effort.

Probable Lineups