Article by Adrian Duţă – Published Thursday, February 19, 2026, 10:18 / Updated Thursday, February 19, 2026 10:30
Răzvan Lucescu, PAOK's coach, prefaced the duel with Celta Vigo, Ionuț Radu's team, from the play-off for the Europa League round of 16.
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PAOK – Celta Vigo, the Romanians' duel in the Europa League, takes place from 19:45, liveTEXT on GSP.ro and transmitted on Prima Sport and Digi Sport. The return takes place on February 26, in Spain.
PAOK and Celta Vigo met before this season in the Europa League, in the group. In October 2025, the Spanish beat the Greeks 3-1 in Vigo. Răzvan Lucescu recalled that duel, declaring that there is a different context now.
He told his students to pay attention to every detail and urged them to show that they can cope at the level of the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Răzvan Lucescu, before PAOK – Celta Vigo: “We have to go in with force and every player to show that they can cope”
“Then we were going through a complicated moment and two days away was the derby with Olympiacos. We couldn't afford to lose. The strategy was different. Now we have more confidence and a better mentality. Celta have climbed the table in Spain, it will be a difficult game for both teams. We have to pay attention to every detail.
We have a lot of tough games and we have to keep our minds clear. Despite the absences, we have to come in strong and every player show they can cope. To fight and give everything, with or without the ball. It will take 150% to get a positive result.
Many European teams manage to do that and fight for the title as well. In Greece the internal pressure is different and football is complicated but beautiful. We don't always have the highest quality, but there are teams with value and others who make up for it by fighting.
There is no margin for error. So far I have responded well on all fronts. We have to be ready for every match”, declared Răzvan Lucescu, at the press conference preceding the match with Celta Vigo.
