Ajax-Panathinaikos is a match valid for the return leg of the third preliminary round of the Europa League and is played on Thursday at 8:15 p.m.: statistics, likely lineups, prediction, TV and streaming.
It really makes quite an impression to see a club that has always been used to treading important stages like Ajax having to sweat out qualification to the single group stage of the next Europa League. In fact, the Lancers, who finished only fifth in the last Eredivisie, are forced to play the exhausting and grueling preliminaries in order to obtain a pass for the second-largest continental competition.
Ajax has already been busy since late July, and in the second round they won both the first leg and the return leg over the Serbs of Vojvodina, beaten 0-1 and 3-1. In the third, Francesco Farioli’s men – the young Italian coach, who is back from a positive experience at Nice, has been entrusted with the reconstruction – faced a tough team like Panathinaikos, which in the first leg match created quite a few problems for the Lancers.
Great start for Farioli
Berghuis and his teammates, however, returned from Athens with a most valuable victory. On Greek soil it was decided by a goal scored in the first half by their captain (0-1), a goal that allows Ajax to play for 2 results out of 3 at the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam: a draw would be enough to rejoice.
The efforts made in the Europa League did not affect the league debut with Heerenveen, which folded with the same result (1-0): fourth win out of four for Farioli, who started his Dutch adventure as best he could. On the other hand, the Greek championship has not yet started, and the only official matches played by Diego Alonso’s men, besides the one with Ajax, were against the modest Bulgarians Botev Plovdiv in the second preliminary round: 6-1 was the overall result between the first leg and the return leg. Farioli is expected to find Bergwijn, who was absent in the first leg, while Alonso will field an eleven very similar to the first leg, with former Sassuolo man Djuricicic in the three-quarter with Tete and Bakasetas and behind the only forward Jeremejeff.
Share comparison
Ajax’s win is listed at 1.68 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and at 1.70 on Snai. In contrast, the “Under 3.5” sign is quoted at 1.35 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and at 1.37 on Snai.
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The Prediction
Panathinaikos would like to avenge the famous defeat suffered in the then 1971 Champions Cup final, the highest moment in the Greek club’s history, but overturning the 1-0 first leg in Amsterdam will require a real feat. The Lancers immediately appeared very solid and should complete the task in front of their fans by bringing home another success.
The probable lineups of Ajax-Panathinaikos
AJAX (4-3-3): Pasveer; Rensch, Sutalo, Baas, Hato; Taylor, Henderson, Fitz-Jim; Berghuis, Akpom, Forbs.
PANATHINAIKOS (4-2-3-1): Dragowski; Kotsiras, Ingason, Jedvaj, Mladenovic; Cerin, Arao; Tete, Bakasetas, Djuricic; Jeremejeff.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-0
