On 11 August 2017, Lucescu would return to the benches of Superleague Greece as he signed a three-year contract with PAOK. His tenure at the club started against Ostersund for the play-off round of 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. PAOK went to win the first leg in Thessaloniki, 3–1, but a 0–2 defeat in Sweden in the second leg eliminated them from the competition, as they failed to reach the Europa League group stages for the first time in 5 years. At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as they found themselves fighting for the league title with real chances. However, the derbies came to disastrous outcomes, with PAOK losing to Olympiacos due to an awarded 3–0 win, as the match was suspended for fan behavior. Against rivals AEK Athens, the president of the team, Ivan Savvidis, stormed onto the pitch with a pistol in his holster after a late PAOK goal was overturned after protests from AEK, causing the league to be suspended. PAOK was later punished with a reduction of 3 points and the awarding of the game to AEK by 0–3. The awarded derbies, as well as the court deduction, played a big role in PAOK losing the league title to AEK, as they finished the championship 2nd, 6 points behind their double-headed eagle rivals. Afterwards, PAOK won the Greek Cup after defeating AEK 2–0 in the Cup final in OAKA, Athens, which was viewed as a consolation prize for the lost championship.