Panathinaikos set to kickoff European Campaign

Panathinaikos will kickoff their quest for European success tonight (21:45 GR, NET) when Dinamo Tbilisi visits the centenary club at OAKA in the Greek capital. This, the 2nd round Qualifying Round, includes a wave of new clubs entering the competition at this point. Georgian club Dinamo Tbilisi didn’t have the opportunity to enter the competition in the 2nd Round, however the Georgian Champions managed to knockout NSI Runavik.

Pressure will be on the home side to grab a win tonight, considering that Panathinaikos are favourite to progress out of this round. New manager Henk Ten Cate has released his lineup for the crucial tie, and to everyone’s surprise new signing Gilberto Silva was left off the list. The Brazilian’s debut will have to wait, as he has yet to make an appearance in any of the friendly matches so far. As for the players who are included in the 19 player roster, new recruits Ante Rukavina and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos could see their first action in the green and white. Greek youngster is also included in the squad, after a nagging injury kept him out of Jose Peseiro’s squad for plenty of last year.

Tonight is the first leg of the tie, while the return leg is set for next Wednesday (August 6th) in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Panathinaikos squad:

Galinovic, Karnezis; Nilsson, Gabriel, Spiropoulos,Vintra, Siontis, Goumas, Sarriegi; Mattos, Simao, Tziolis, Karagounis, Ninis,  Ivanschitz, Christodoulopoulos; Rukavina, Salpigindis, Mantzios.