 For the first time, there were double(home and away) matches in the group stage, thus each team played 10 games.Because the tournament began very early in the summer, in a period where teams should play preparation friendlies, the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) allowed at the 5 first matches a maximum of 7 substitutions, something unusual in Greece, very probably and internationally, for matches of an official competition.After the group stage, there were very interesting confrontations, after drawing elected "strong" pairs.