Semi-finalists in 2011, and knocked out in the Round of 16 last season, Schalke also returned to the group stage after getting the better of PAOK.
Coached by former Schalke boss Huub Stevens, the Greek side held the upper hand in this tie after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany, but some of their advantage was lost by the fact that the return at their own Stadio Toumbia was played behind closed doors.
PAOK then lost their advantage in the tie when Atsuto Uchida squared for Adam Szalai to put Schalke ahead just before the interval. The hosts turned up the pressure in the second half and got their reward when Stefanos Athanasiadis fired home, and Schalke were then reduced to ten men when Jermaine Jones was shown a second yellow card just after the hour.
However, Julian Draxler put the Bundesliga club back in front, leaving PAOK - who were late replacements for banned Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv - needing to score twice to progress. The veteran Kostas Katsouranis got one, but Draxler set up Szalai to clinch a 3-2 win on the night for Schalke, who progress 4-3 on aggregate.
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