Panathinaikos set for Dinamo return

Panahtiniakos travel to Georgia for the return leg in their 2nd Qualifying Round tie against Dinamo Tbilisi. The match is set for Wednesday evening but both clubs are aware of what they have to achieve in order to progress. Panathinaikos holds a great advantage after romping the Georgian Champions 3-0 at OAKA last week. Dinamo Tbilisi will hope to repeat a 3-0 victory they had over NSÍ Runavik in the previous round.

The outlook isn’t good for the Georgian side as Panathinaikos manager Henk Ten Cate has added a few more chips to the PAO puzzle. One of those pieces is big summer signing Gilberto Silva, who will make his Panathinaikos debut on Wednesday. Several of the Panathinaikos players have become vocal over the need to focus primarily on the task at hand.

“It is very important that we are competing in the Champions League. It is a challenge for all of us. We are the favorites but we must be careful at the same time,” said Marcelo Mattos.

“We are going to win the game. Of course, this is a big incentive for us as it is a Champions League match,” ensured Lazaros Christodoulopoulos.

The winner of this tie will face the winner of the Sparta Prague / Sheriff tie which will play its final leg in Prague on Wednesday.

A notable absence in the Panathinaikos squad is Austrian International Andreas Ivanschitz; while Alexandros Tziolis and Antonis Petropoulos were also left behind.

Panathinaikos roster: Galinovic, Malarz, Nilsson, Vyntra, Spyropoulos, Goumas, Siontis, Gilberto Silva, Mattos, Karagounis, Simao, Ninis, Gabriel, Rukavina, Sarieggi, Salpingidis, Mantzios, Christodoulopoulos, Cleyton.