Panathinaikos and Botev Plovdiv will hope to take a step towards making the Europa League group stages when they meet in the first leg of their second qualifying round tie on Thursday evening.
While the home side are making their first appearance on the continent this season, the visitors have already secured a notable triumph in the previous round.
Match preview
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Having watched Olympiakos make history in the Europa Conference League last season, rivals Panathinaikos can only be inspired heading into this campaign.
The success has helped strengthen Greek football's place on the map and has arguably contributed to former Uruguay and Sevilla boss Diego Alonso choosing to take on the role as Panathinaikos' new head coach.
Some key additions have been made in the off-season with Sverrir Ingi Ingason, George Baldock and Nemanja Maksimovic all making the switch to the Athens Olympic Stadium.
Bartlomiej Dragowski and Tin Jedvaj have also remained after their respective loan spells, creating a sense that Panathinaikos could impress on the domestic front.
Panathinaikos made the group stages of this tournament in 2023-24, only to collect four points from six matches against Rennes, Villarreal and Maccabi Haifa.
In sharp contrast, opponents Botev Plovdiv have not made the main stages of a European competition since reaching the Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals in 1962-63.
Their only experience in recent seasons is going down 2-0 on aggregate to APOEL in the Europa Conference League second qualifying round in 2022-23.
That is why overcoming Maribor 4-3 across two legs in the first qualifying of this competition was significant, the Bulgarian outfit still riding a crest of a wave having won the domestic cup last season.
Having finished in ninth place in the top flight, though, the size of their task here is far more difficult, and Dusan Kerkez will hope that his team can stay competitive for the return fixture on home territory.
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Alonso could plausibly select the same Panathinaikos XI from the friendly against Netanya on July 18.
Of the fresh faces, only Serbian midfielder Maksimovic started that fixture, with former loanees Dragowski and Jedvaj taking their place between the sticks and in the middle of defence.
Alexander Jeremejeff scored seven goals in 14 league games during the second half of last season, which should give him the nod down the centre of the attack.
Kerkez switched up his Plovdiv side for the Bulgarian top-flight opener at the weekend, leaving him with an array of options for this game.
The likes of Antoine Conte and Anthony Ujah - who scored in the second leg versus Maribor - could return in defence and attack respectively.
Panathinaikos possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Kotsiras, Jedvaj, Schenkeveld, Mladenovic; Makismovic, Vilhena; Mancini, Bakasetas, Djuricic; Jeremejeff
Botev Plovdiv possible starting lineup:
Igonen; Ukaki, Tamm, Conte, Yordanov; Karabelyov, Korosec; Nwachukwu, Popov, Iliev; Ujah
We say: Panathinaikos 2-0 Botev Plovdiv
With the visitors already having two competitive fixtures in their legs, Panathinaikos will be wary of being caught short in terms of fitness. However, we expect Alonso's men to come through in a professional manner, potentially with a goal in either half.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
