Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of the continuation of Shamrock Rovers’ European adventure.

Here are the teams for tonight:

Rovers: Thompson; Sullivan, Sives, Murray, Stevens; McCabe, O’Donnell, Turner, McCormack, Dennehy; Sheppard.

PAOK: Chalkias; Miroslaw Sznaucner, Cirillo, Malezas, Lino; Arias, Lazar; Georgiadis, Fotakis, Vieirinha; Salpingidis.

Some people are suggesting tonight represents Rovers’ best chance of earning points in the Europa League. What do you think? How will they get on?

The game has just kicked off and already Turner has a shot, which tests the PAOK goalkeeper, forcing him to dive down to his right to make a decent save.

Sullivan’s cross narrowly misses the head of Sheppard. Good, positive start from Rovers.

GOAL FOR PAOK!!!

Salpingidis is played through and cooly slots the ball under Thompson’s body. The Rovers’ defence was badly exposed there.

Just before the PAOK goal, there was a strong suspicion of handball in the Rovers box by Sives. So perhaps justice was served with that PAOK goal.

Rovers seemed to have a bad habit of conceding early goals in this campaign. They previous did so in the earlier fixture against PAOK, and in the Rubin match.

Salpingidis is played through again but he seems unsure whether to shoot or cross from a tight angle, and ultimately, does neither.

Salpingidis is causing the Rovers defence all sorts of problems at the moment, with his excellent movement off the ball. The Rovers defence need to deal with him better if they are to have any chance of recovering from their difficult start.

Georgiadis’ shot takes a wicked deflection and floats narrowly wide for a corner. The pressure on Rovers’ goal at the moment is just relentless.

Meanwhile, in the other game in the group, Bebras Natcho has put Rubin in the lead against Tottenham reserves.

Rovers are almost caught again on the counter-attack, but their perpetual tormentor Salpingidis is adjudged to be offside. It seemed a tight call.

The referee is only 32 and looks nervous, having already made one or two very questionable decisions.

Excellent save from Thompson, who rushes out of his goal swiftly to stop Vieirinha adding to Rovers’ misery. Currently, it only seems a matter of how many goals PAOK are going to win by, on account of their complete dominance.

PAOK are looking fitter and sharper in every position. Perhaps Rovers are suffering from end-of-season exhaustion.

GOAL FOR PAOK!!!!

Rovers give it away on the edge of their own box and the ball is crossed to Fotakis, who slots the ball home comfortably. I can’t see Rovers coming back now.

GOAL FOR PAOK!! Game over surely.

Pinpoint cross in to find an unmarked Salpingidis, who volleys it home expertly. I hate to say it, but the 3-0 scoreline accurately reflects how dominant PAOK have been in this game.

Rovers almost respond immediately. A looping header by Turner is acrobatically touched over the bar by the PAOK keeper.

Apparently Cudicini is having a stormer to keep Spurs in it. That game started at 5pm and so, is almost over at this stage.

Tellingly, this is Rovers’ 58th game of the season and it’s easily been their worst performance of their Europa League campaign so far.

HALF TIME: Rovers 0-3 PAOK

In summary, Rovers have looked sluggish and PAOK more than deserve their 3-0 half-time lead. The phrase ‘learning experience’ springs to mind.

“They look like a team that would be happy to see the final whistle,” says 3E’s resident soccer expert Roddy Collins. He also singled out Sives for criticism, saying the defender looks “a bit leggy”.

At the moment, it’s a toss-up between Salpingidis, who has scored two excellent goals, and Vieirinha, who has ran the show in the midfield, for the man-of-the-match award.

Elsewhere, the Spurs game has ended, with Rubin winning 1-0 to avenge their defeat in the previous fixture between the two sides.

Salpingidis celebrates his first-half brace (INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan).

The second half is now underway, and Kilduff and Twigg have both come on for Rovers.

GOAL FOR ROVERS!!!

Billy Dennehy drills in a terrific free-kick, which goes in off the post, catching the PAOK goalkeeper out, as Chalkias seemed to anticipate an attempt on the opposite side of the post.

Rovers have been on the attack for the majority of the second half so far. It seems like a completely different game now.

Interestingly, Rovers’ switch to a more positive 4-4-2 has been rewarded in the second half. The cliche that attack is the best form of defence has never seemed more apt, as Rovers win another corner.

Dean Whitehead has just put Stoke in front against Maccabi.

Sheppard again beats his man and wins Rovers a free kick, which the visitors subsequently clear away, albeit in an unconvincing fashion.

PAOK fans make their feelings known on recent developments over here. (INPHO/Dan Sheridan)

That man again, Vieirinha, unleashes a powerful shot, which Thompson tips onto the Rovers crossbar. Another let-off for Rovers.

Stephen Rice has just come on, as Rovers make their final substitution of the night.

Almost four for PAOK . Again the Rovers defence is split wide open, as Salpingidis unselfishly squares it to Vieirinha when through on goal, and the playmaker for once shows poor technique, blazing it over the crossbar.

Goalkeeper flaps at Sheppard’s cross as another chance goes begging for Rovers. Another goal really would make the last few minutes interesting.

Murray is well positioned to clear a dangerous cross from Salpingidis, keeping Rovers’ feint hopes of a comeback alive in the process.

Stoke are now two-ahead, courtesy of a Peter Crouch goal.

Lino heads the ball away nervously, with Kilduff breathing down his neck. PAOK are defending desperately. If only Rovers played this way from the start of the game.

Meanwhile, in other news:

We’re not sure what to make of that claim.

The game has hit a bit of a lull now, as injury time approaches, with two-goal hero Salpingidis getting substituted.

So near, yet so far. A header from Kilduff is desperately cleared off the line by the PAOK defender.

2-1 now, as Roberto Colautti pulls a goal back for Maccabi against Stoke.

FULL TIME: ROVERS 1-3 PAOK

So, pretty much a typical Rovers performance as far as this Europa League campaign is concerned. While there were encouraging aspects to their game, they ultimately lacked that extra bit of class, which their opponents demonstrated in abundance.

Stoke have also just beaten Maccabi.

While Rovers no longer have any chance of qualifying, an interesting three-way battle is developing in their group, with Spurs now third, albeit only on goal difference.

Okay, that’s it from me. Thanks for reading and be sure to join me tomorrow for our liveblog of the Munster v Leinster game. Night, night.