Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Ajax and Panathinaikos, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
With a one-goal lead after last week’s first leg, Ajax welcome Panathinaikos to Amsterdam on Thursday, as they aim to seal a place in the Europa League playoffs.
Victory in Greece has put the Dutch giants in control of their third qualifying round tie, amid a successful start to the new season.
Match preview
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Later surviving a couple of scares, Ajax edged last week’s contest in Athens by virtue of a first-half strike from Steven Berghuis, which ultimately turned out to be the match-winner.
That was enough to ensure a slight advantage ahead of the return at Johan Cruijff ArenA, and a subsequent 1-0 win over Heerenveen in their first Eredivisie fixture continued a fine start to life under new coach Francesco Farioli.
For just the second time this century, and the first in 22 years, Ajax have begun a season with four consecutive wins – also putting together eight straight victories when including pre-season.
Farioli arrived from Nice after a turbulent 2023-24 campaign, being asked to rebuild after the once-dominant Amsterdam side finished fifth, having previously struggled near the foot of the table.
Following a 4-1 aggregate defeat of Vojvodina in the second round, his team are now favourites to progress to the final phase of Europa League qualifying, with a playoff place against either Bodo/Glimt or Jagiellonia Bialystok at stake.
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While Ajax are four-time European champions, most recently winning the Champions League in 1995, Panathinaikos are yet to claim continental silverware – and it was the Dutch club that denied them in the European Cup final of 1971.
The Greens will have to stage a second-leg comeback if they are to gain a belated slice of revenge, though, after a series of near-misses on home turf.
Just before the break, they struck the crossbar through Anastasios Bakasetas, then a potential goal was ruled out for offside before Swedish striker Alexander Jeremejeff fired an excellent chance wide.
Former Sevilla boss Diego Alonso was appointed following Fatih Terim‘s departure – after Panathinaikos finished fourth in last season’s Greek Super League and exited at the Europa League’s group stage – and he has overseen the start of their latest European campaign.
Beating Bulgaria’s Botev Plovdiv 6-1 in the second qualifying round promised much, but if his team cannot overturn their first-leg deficit in the Netherlands, then a place in the Conference League playoffs would be their fate.
Ajax Europa League form:
Ajax form (all competitions):
Panathinaikos Europa League form:
Team News
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After returning from a post-Euros break, Brian Brobbey was back in the Ajax squad last week, but Chuba Akpom has started up front so far this season and is set to keep his place.
Steven Berghuis replaced the injured Christian Rasmussen in Athens, scoring a goal set up by Kian Fitz-Jim, and both could feature in Francesco Farioli’s starting lineup once again.
Aged 40 years and 277 days, Remko Pasveer became the first 40-year-old to play an Eredivisie match for Ajax at the weekend; with Geronimo Rulli still on leave after competing at the Olympics, he should continue in goal.
Steven Bergwijn sat out the first leg and missed Sunday’s league game through suspension, but the Netherlands forward should be back in the squad on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Panathinaikos have benefited from a full week’s preparation, as the Greek Super League has yet to kick off its 2024-25 season.
Diego Alonso may therefore name a similar side to that of the home leg, with Adam Gnezda Cerin playing a key role in midfield and Alexander Jeremejeff leading the line up front.
The latter has three goals to his name in Europa League qualifying so far, starting every game, so Gnezda Cerin’s international teammate Andraz Sporar will be consigned to the bench.
Ajax possible starting lineup:
Pasveer; Rensch, Sutalo, Baas, Hato; Taylor, Henderson, Fitz-Jim; Berghuis, Akpom, Forbs
Panathinaikos possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Kotsiras, Ingason, Jedvaj, Mladenovic; Cerin, Arao; Tete, Bakasetas, Djuricic; Jeremejeff
We say: Ajax 1-0 Panathinaikos (Ajax win 2-0 on aggregate)
Proving an impressive start to the Francesco Farioli era may be sustainable, Ajax can win again on Thursday night, securing their place in the Europa League playoffs.
Now that Bergwijn and Brobbey are both back in the fold, they should find a way past Panathinaikos, who will be bound for the Conference League.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.