Panathinaikos – Rangers

Panathinaikos will not be able to level the goal difference after the first match.

A week ago, the confrontation between Panathinaikos and Rangers in the second qualifying round of the Champions League became very heated and exciting. By the laws of dramaturgy, the Greek team looked almost better than their opponent in Glasgow during the first half and, at the very least, created a couple of good chances to score. However, in the first third of the second half, troubles occurred for the visiting team. Firstly, Curtis scored a brilliant shot from outside the penalty area into the Panathinaikos net, and just six minutes later, the defender of the visiting team, Vagiannidis, received a red card. Following these events, Rangers began to attack twice as often, and in the 78th minute, their advantage in the score was doubled. A 0-2 defeat before the home match does not seem like a critical outcome for Panathinaikos. However, now Rangers are in a much more advantageous position than their opponent, allowing the Scots to play away in a comfortable manner - as the second team. Bookmakers have made the home side the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.79 on their victory. Panathinaikos finished second in the Greek championship last season, which allowed the club to return to the Champions League qualifying rounds after two years. Currently, there is competition for this position in the Greek league, at least with AEK and PAOK, making the runner-up title quite prestigious. For PAO, the match in Scotland was the first official one of the current season. The season in Greece starts in just under a month. As of today, the Athenian team has not strengthened compared to last season. In Glasgow, only the defensive midfielder Chirivella was among the new players in the starting lineup. Rangers once again lost the championship title to Celtic last season, confirming that the last decade is rightly considered to be the 'number two' in the Scottish league. At the same time, the 'Rangers' have not lost any official matches since mid-April when they lost the return leg of the Europa League quarter-finals in Bilbao to the local Athletic. Between the matches with the Athenian club, Rangers played a friendly match against Middlesbrough, which ended in a draw - 2:2. Most likely, Rangers will not concede to a forced attacking opponent by two goals.