place thanks to a thrilling win over Panathinaikos on Sunday as Olympiakos Piraeus completed the season with a 6-0 rout of relegated Larissa.
With relegation and the title sorted out already, all eyes were on who would grab fifth place and therefore the final berth for the Champions League play-offs. It was between Aris and Olympiakos Volou and although the Yellows won away at Xanthi, the 3-2 win over PAO for the side from central Greece mean that they will be competing in the mini-league.
Olympiakos Volou and their outspoken owner Achilleas Beos have never been far from controversy this season, so it was no surprise that the last match should also be contentious with Panathinaikos disputing the decisions that led to the awarding of two penalties and dismissals for Greens' defenders.
Javier Martin opened the scoring for the home side in the 24th minute when referee Stavros Mantalos pointed to the spot after Jean Alain Boumsong blocked a shot with his arm.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men two minutes before half-time when Cedric Kante was shown a red card for a foul Mario Breska as he was on the counter-attack.
Breska doubled the lead in the 55th minute with a powerful shot. But Panathinaikos hit back a couple of minutes later with a close range header from Kostas Katsouranis.
The Super League's top scorer, Djibril Cisse, made it 2-2 on 66 minutes as he tucked away a flick-on from a corner.
However, there were more twists to come as Mantalos gave another penalty to Olympiakos Volou for a second handball from Boumsong, who was shown a second yellow card on 80 minutes. But Alexis Tzorvas saved Ilias Solakis's shot and it seemed Volos's chance had gone.
Martin popped up again in the 85th minute to settle the game after Panathinaikos, down to none men, were unable to clear their penalty area.
The win gives Olympiakos Volou an outside chance of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in their history after they finished in fifth place on 47 points.
Panathinaikos finished the regular season in second place on 60 points, 10 ahead of AEK who drew 0-0 with Iraklis ahead of their April 30 appearance in the Greek Cup final.
PAOK grabbed fourth place with 48 points thanks to a 2-0 home win against Kerkyra.
Aris had done all they could to get fifth as goals from Darcy Neto and Danilo Perreira gave them a 2-1 win at Xanthi. Stavros Stathakis scored for the home side.
However, the Yellows finished a disappointing season, which contained some highs in the Europa League in sixth place on 45 points.
Kavala, who drew 0-0 with Greek Cup finalists Atromitos, ended the season one place below Aris on 40 points.
Ergotelis reached 39 points after a 4-0 thrashing of bottom side Panserraikos.
Panionios ended a remarkable second half to the season on a low and in 10thplace after a 3-1 defeat at relegated Asteras Tripolis.
Meanwhile, Olympiakos finished the season on a high by thumping Larissa to secure a perfect set of home wins - 15 from 15 - in this year's Super League.
Raffik Djebbour, David Fuster (2), Olof Mellberg, Marko Pantelic and Yiannis Fetfatzidis got on the scoresheet for the Reds.
All of which means that the Champions League play-offs will begin with Panathinaikos heading the mini-league on three points, AEK will have one and PAOK and Olympiakos Volou will start with none.
source: SPORTINGREECE
