Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-04-15

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Soccer roundup -- AEK-Olympiakos derby to decide league title

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[03] Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy on Monday

[01] Soccer roundup -- AEK-Olympiakos derby to decide league title

Bitter rivals AEK Athens and Olympiakos Piraeus will settle scores and, by all accounts, decide the outcome of this seasons lively Greek first division championship on Saturday, after both clubs posted victories over the weekend.

With only two games remaining league-leading AEK stayed three points ahead of Olympiakos by easily downing a recently foundering Iraklis Thessaloniki 3-0 at home on Sunday. At the same time, Olympiakos avoided an abrupt end to its dreams of winning a sixth straight title by overcoming a determined relegation-level Panahaiki Patra 3-1 away.

Panahaiki went into halftime with a 1-0 lead on its home pitch, only to see Greek international striker Stelios Giannakopoulos send two headers into the net in the 75th and 85th minutes. The loss also left Panahaiki dead last in the standings with relegation looming.

Both AEK and Olympiakos are due to meet a week later in the Greek Cup final.

AEK's win, moreover, practically propels the club into next seasons coveted Champions League play, where it will be called on to match Panathinaikos Athens spectacular performance this season. The ?clover-emblem? Athens team reached the Champions League's quarterfinals before bowing to FC Barcelona 3-1 last Wednesday evening in a ?thriller? matchup.

Days after its ?die-hard? elimination, injury- and card-decimated Panathinaikos broke loose against lowly Aegaleo on Sunday by posting a 4-1 win in the formers tiny pitch.

In other action, PAOK Thessaloniki scored six times to its fans delight in a 6-3 victory at home over an indifferent Akratitos Athens.

Skoda Xanthi, meanwhile, earned its first-ever UEFA birth by edging relegation-level Ethnikos Asteras Athens at home 1-0 with a first half penalty kick.

Aris Thessaloniki tied 1-1 with a surprisingly robust Panionios Athens at home on Sunday, continuing a series of poor performances by the northern Greece club in whats turned out to be a nightmare season.

Finally, Ionikos secured its presence in the first division next year by downing an ambitious OFI Crete 2-1 at home.

The standings after 24 games:

AEK 55

Olympiakos 52

Panathinaikos 46 (23 games)

PAOK 45

Xanthi 39

Iraklis 32

Panionios 31

OFI 30

Aris 29

Aegaleo 23

Ionikos 22 (23 games)

Akratitos 20

Ethnikos Asteras 17

Panahaiki 15

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro

U.S. dollar 0.887

Pound sterling 0.617

Danish kroner 7.496

Swedish kroner 9.170

Japanese yen 117.21

Swiss franc 1.477

Norwegian kroner 7.684

Cyprus pound 0.580

Canadian dollar 1.410

Australian dollar 1.658

[03] Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy on Monday

Scattered cloud throughout Greece on Monday, turning to light showers in the south into the evening. North to north-easterly winds, weak to moderate. Temperatures between 9C to 16C in the north; 11C to 20C in the rest of the mainland; 15C to 22C on the islands.

Partly cloudy in Athens with a chance of rain later in the day, 13C to 20C. The same forecast for Thessaloniki, 12C to 16C.

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