Panathinaikos took top spot in the Europa League league phase standings after Matchday 1. The squad will now try to retain that status after a meeting with one of the early strugglers, Go Ahead Eagles.
Few anticipated such leadership from the team, as they travelled away to last season’s UEFA Champions League participants BSC Young Boys. Although the opponents ended up bottom of the 36 participants last autumn and winter, they should be competitive a level below. However, Panathinaikos beat them (4:1). It was 3:0 by the 20th minute, with Moroccan winger Anass Zaroury the standout as he scored a hat-trick. After a poor three-match winless run (two draws and a defeat), head coach Rui Vitória was dismissed, and following a brief search the club settled on Christos Kontis. The upturn was immediate.
Go Ahead Eagles went into their last two matches as favourites, but lost both. In UEFA Europa League Matchday 1, they were beaten 0:1 at home by FCSB, wasting three scoring chances and posting 1.39 xG. They then lost 2:4 away in the Dutch league to newly promoted SC Telstar; the opponents needed just 2.36 xG. As a result, Go Ahead Eagles slipped to 10th place in the Eredivisie. The squad clearly lack experience of balancing two competitions; they had not previously played European football in the autumn.
Under the new head coach, Panathinaikos are in excellent form: they held Olympiacos to a 1:1 draw and won two away matches. Therefore we are confident the hosts will win.
