The new era of Panathinaikos led by Diego Alonso officially begins tonight. The “greens” are essentially completing their preparations and putting aside transfer matters – awaiting arrivals and announcements for Teté – with a significant obligation against Botev Plovdiv. The Bulgarians, who eliminated Maribor, are the first opponents in the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa League.
The “clover” wants to take the first step towards the first of the three qualifications needed to reach the group stage of the Europa League, or at worst the two required to move to the Conference League. The “greens” are the logical favorites for the match and the pair, having as their main opponent the era. Botev is clearly a more prepared team, with the Bulgarian Cup holders also being a team with continuity from previous seasons.
Alonso’s squad, on the other hand, has been working this summer to reach the best possible level of readiness regarding the new philosophy that the Uruguayan wants to implement. There are also absences (Ioannidis, unfinished transfers, and unprepared internationals) that add extra difficulty.
At OAKA, Panathinaikos will seek a victory that would make them favorites for the return leg in Plovdiv. There, the “greens” want to avoid going all in… with a bad outcome as a “bargain” from the first match.
As for the starting eleven, Londygin will be in goal. Vagiannidis on the right in defense, Senkefeld and Gentveit are the favorites for center-backs, with Mladenovic on the left. Arau and Maximovits have the edge for the midfield, with Bakasetas, Mancini, and Juricic forming the trio that will provide support to the striker, expected to be Geremeyev, although it is not excluded that Sporar might be favored.
The kickoff of the match is scheduled for 21:00 and the television coverage will be by Cosmote Sport 1. The referee for the match is Fuchsman, assisted by Barbiro and Koltunov, all from Israel. The fourth official is Leiba from the same country, while the VAR and AVAR are their compatriots, Natan and Biton respectively.