Panathinaikos
5 August 2026 at 19:30 BST, Greek side Panathinaikos will host Bulgaria's CSKA 1948 at the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens "Spyros Louis" in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League third qualifying round.
The Athens club are considered one of the favourites in the current qualifying campaign thanks to the high quality of their squad and their extensive international experience. The Bulgarian team will try to withstand the hosts' early pressure and keep their chances realistic ahead of the return leg. Even an away draw would be a very successful result for the visitors.
Both clubs came through the second round with difficulty: Panathinaikos only avoided extra time in their home match against Paksi in the 85th minute, while CSKA played out two goalless draws with Spartak Trnava and only got the job done in the penalty shootout.
The Greeks are easing into the season under a new coach: Jacob Neestrup has replaced Rafa Benitez after an unsuccessful spell at Copenhagen, where the reigning Danish champions dropped into the relegation group. Given that they have played only two competitive matches and are dealing with the new-coach factor, we do not think Panathinaikos should be expected to win the upcoming meeting by a landslide, even though bookmakers have them at a very short 1.09.
We suggest backing CSKA (+2.5): Panathinaikos have covered (-2.5) in only 4 of their last 20 matches when they were favourites at below 1.50, while CSKA themselves have lost by more than two goals only four times since the start of the 2020/21 season in matches where they were clear underdogs.
Matteo Marchetti (Italy)
Matches – 7 (international fixtures, 2025–2026);
Average fouls per match – 25;
Average yellow cards per match (including second yellows) – 3.2;
Matches with red cards – 0 out of 7;
Matches with penalties – 4 out of 7.
|
Jacob Neestrup
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
|
Ignacio Peña Sotorres
|
gk. | 3 | -4 |
|
Giorgos Kyriakopoulos
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
|
Stefan de Vrij
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
|
Rick van Drongelen
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Adriano Jagušić
|
mf. | 3 | 2 |
|
Facundo Pellistri Rebollo
|
mf. | 3 | 0 |
|
Pedro Chirivella Burgos
|
mf. | 3 | 0 |
|
Triantafyllos Tsapras
|
mf. | 3 | 0 |
|
Étienne Amara Camara
|
mf. | 3 | 0 |
|
Elmin Rastoder
|
fw. | 3 | 1 |
|
Santino Andino Valencia
|
fw. | 3 | 1 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
|
Panagiotis Biniaris
|
0 | 0 | |
|
Konstantinos Kotsaris
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Lucas Abraham Chaves
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Ahmed Touba
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Giorgos Marios Katris
|
df. | 1 | 0 |
|
Adam Gnezda Čerin
|
mf. | 3 | 0 |
|
Sotiris Kontouris
|
mf. | 2 | 0 |
|
Anass Zaroury
|
fw. | 3 | 0 |
|
Vicente Taborda
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
|
Giorgos Kyriopoulos
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Ognyan Mladenov
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
|
Petar Totev Marinov
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Andre Hoffmann
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Diego Daniel Medina Román
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Héctor Manuel Cuéllar Rosales
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Lasha Dvali
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Ognjen Gašević
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Frédéric Ferreira Maciel
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Moataz Zemzemi
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Atanas Petrov Iliev
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Georgi Rosenov Rusev
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Jules Meyer
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
|
Aleks Bozhev
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Dimitar Georgiev Sheytanov
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Dragan Grivić
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Egor Parkhomenko
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Fourat Soltani
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Brian Gabriel Sobrero
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Florian Krebs
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Marto Nikolov Boychev
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Petar Ivo Vitanov
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Elias Corrêa Franco
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Kaloyan Radostinov Strinski
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
|
Mamadou Diallo
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
Panathinaikos
Paksi
Paksi
Panathinaikos
Real Betis
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
Real Betis
Viktoria Plzen
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
Viktoria Plzen
Panathinaikos
AS Roma
Ferencvárosi
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
Viktoria Plzen
Panathinaikos
Sturm Graz
CSKA 1948 Sofia
Spartak Trnava
Spartak Trnava
CSKA 1948 Sofia
Pafos
CSKA 1948 Sofia
CSKA 1948 Sofia
Pafos
Budućnost
CSKA 1948 Sofia
CSKA 1948 Sofia
Budućnost
FCSB
CSKA 1948 Sofia
CSKA 1948 Sofia
FCSB
| # | Team | Form | Matches played | W | D | L | G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Panathinaikos
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7:2 | 6 |
|
2
|
Lugano
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8:4 | 6 |
|
3
|
Brann
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6:2 | 6 |
|
4
|
Trabzonspor
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6:2 | 6 |
|
5
|
Twente
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 |
|
6
|
Monaco
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 |
|
7
|
Sint-Truidense
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 6 |
|
8
|
Hajduk Split
|
|
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 6 |
|
9
|
Brighton and Hove Albion
|
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4:0 | 4 |
|
10
|
Copenhagen
|
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5:2 | 4 |
|
11
|
Universitatea
|
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4:2 | 4 |
|
12
|
Mjällby
|
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:1 | 4 |
|
13
|
Ajax
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 3 |
|
14
|
Borac Banja Luka
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 3 |
|
15
|
Atalanta
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3:3 | 3 |
|
16
|
Sporting Braga
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2:3 | 3 |
|
17
|
Gent
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 3 |
|
18
|
Freiburg
|
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3:5 | 3 |
|
19
|
Nordsjælland
|
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3:3 | 2 |
|
20
|
Egnatia Rrogozhine
|
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 |
|
21
|
FC Riga
|
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 |
|
22
|
Crvena Zvezda
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4:5 | 1 |
|
23
|
CSKA Sofia
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3:4 | 1 |
|
24
|
Jablonec
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2:3 | 1 |
|
25
|
Midtjylland
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1:2 | 1 |
|
26
|
Aarhus
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1:2 | 1 |
|
27
|
Pafos
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2:4 | 1 |
|
28
|
Hearts
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1:3 | 1 |
|
29
|
Iberia 1999
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1:3 | 1 |
|
30
|
Getafe
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3:6 | 1 |
|
31
|
Kairat
|
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2:6 | 1 |
|
32
|
FC Thun
|
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
33
|
Lincoln Red Imps
|
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2:6 | 0 |
|
34
|
KuPS
|
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2:6 | 0 |
|
35
|
Inter Club d'Escaldes
|
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1:5 | 0 |
|
36
|
FK Kauno Zalgiris
|
|
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1:8 | 0 |
| # | Team | Form | Matches played | W | D | L | G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Panathinaikos
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
2
|
Lugano
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 3 |
|
3
|
Brann
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
4
|
Trabzonspor
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
5
|
Twente
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
6
|
Monaco
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 |
|
7
|
Sint-Truidense
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
8
|
Hajduk Split
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
9
|
Brighton and Hove Albion
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:0 | 3 |
|
10
|
Copenhagen
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 |
|
11
|
Mjällby
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
12
|
Ajax
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
13
|
Borac Banja Luka
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
14
|
Atalanta
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 3 |
|
15
|
Sporting Braga
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 |
|
16
|
Gent
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
17
|
Freiburg
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 3 |
|
18
|
Universitatea
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
19
|
Nordsjælland
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 |
|
20
|
Egnatia Rrogozhine
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
21
|
FC Riga
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
22
|
Crvena Zvezda
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 |
|
23
|
Jablonec
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
24
|
Aarhus
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
25
|
Pafos
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
26
|
Hearts
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
27
|
Iberia 1999
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
28
|
CSKA Sofia
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
29
|
Midtjylland
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
30
|
Getafe
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2:5 | 0 |
|
31
|
Kairat
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:5 | 0 |
|
32
|
FC Thun
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
33
|
Lincoln Red Imps
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:4 | 0 |
|
34
|
KuPS
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2:4 | 0 |
|
35
|
Inter Club d'Escaldes
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:3 | 0 |
|
36
|
FK Kauno Zalgiris
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:4 | 0 |
| # | Team | Form | Matches played | W | D | L | G | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Panathinaikos
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 3 |
|
2
|
Lugano
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:2 | 3 |
|
3
|
Brann
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 |
|
4
|
Trabzonspor
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:2 | 3 |
|
5
|
Twente
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 | 3 |
|
6
|
Monaco
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 |
|
7
|
Sint-Truidense
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
8
|
Hajduk Split
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 |
|
9
|
Universitatea
|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 3 |
|
10
|
Brighton and Hove Albion
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 |
|
11
|
Copenhagen
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 |
|
12
|
Mjällby
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
13
|
Nordsjælland
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
14
|
Egnatia Rrogozhine
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
15
|
FC Riga
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
16
|
CSKA Sofia
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 |
|
17
|
Midtjylland
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
18
|
Getafe
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
19
|
Kairat
|
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 |
|
20
|
Ajax
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
21
|
Borac Banja Luka
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
22
|
Atalanta
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
23
|
Sporting Braga
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:3 | 0 |
|
24
|
Gent
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
25
|
Freiburg
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:3 | 0 |
|
26
|
Crvena Zvezda
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2:3 | 0 |
|
27
|
Jablonec
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2:3 | 0 |
|
28
|
Aarhus
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
29
|
Pafos
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:3 | 0 |
|
30
|
Hearts
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
31
|
Iberia 1999
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
32
|
FC Thun
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:1 | 0 |
|
33
|
Lincoln Red Imps
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:2 | 0 |
|
34
|
KuPS
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
35
|
Inter Club d'Escaldes
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:2 | 0 |
|
36
|
FK Kauno Zalgiris
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0:4 | 0 |
