In top form and determined for the crucial 3-3 matchup in the League Phase. Just a few days after the big win in the derby against AEK, Panathinaikos hosts CSKA Sofia tonight at 10:00 p.m. at the OAKA for Matchday 3 of the Conference League, with the ultimate goal of securing their third consecutive win to start the season and their seventh straight victory across all competitions.
The “Greens” are riding an excellent wave of momentum both at home and abroad. The defeat to Olympiacos in the derby appears, clearly, to have been “erased” from their memory and to have been nothing more than a brief setback. The “clover” has already bounced back with an impressive 2-0 record in Europe, with wins over Borac (2-1) and Kairat in Almaty (1-5). Thus, a potential victory in tonight’s match will provide even more momentum and greatly boost hopes of advancing to the top eight, which equates to direct qualification for the quarterfinals.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
As for the team’s lineup, Jacob Nystrup announced the roster, which has no absences other than Salah-Eddin—who is off the list—and the usual injured players.
Panathinaikos’ roster: Peña, Kotsaris, Geitonas, Calabria, Tsapras, Kyriakopoulos, De Vrij, Van Drongelen, Palmer–Brown, Katris, Kangwa, Louza, Kamara, Tsiriveya, Kontouris, Taborda, Jagiusic, Pelistri, Adino, Levi Garcia, Tetei, Desers, Rastonder.
On the other side of the field is a team that Greek fans have seen relatively recently, as the Sofia-based club faced OFI in the Europa League playoffs. However, three months later, the Bulgarians are a more cohesive and better-drilled unit that could cause problems if Panathinaikos is naive and careless. Marcus Gisdol’s team is in second place in its domestic league, one point behind leader Levski, though it has played one more game.
In the League Phase, they have yet to win a match, having lost 2-1 at home to Monaco in their opener, while managing to come away with a 2-2 draw in Denmark at Nordsjælland’s home stadium—the same team Panathinaikos will face in the next matchday in Denmark.
The likely starting lineups:
Panathinaikos (Jacob Nistrup): Peña – Tsapras, De Vrij, Palmer-Brown, Kyriakopoulos – Louza, Kangwa – Pelistri, Jagiusic, Rastoder, Tetei
CSKA Sofia (Marcus Gisdol): Lapukov – Martino, Pastor, Rodrigues, Ivanov – Zordão, Pittas, Sensi, Brahim – Godoy, Schwarz
Referee: Mohamed Al-Hakim (Sweden)
Assistant Referees: Mehmet Çulüm/Fredrik Kliver (Sweden)
Fourth Official: Joakim Sars (Sweden)
VAR/AVAR: Pavel Malec and Kornel Pazkiewicz (Poland)
*photo source: KYPE
