Panathinaikos never gave up and Mancini kept him alive!

THE Panathinaikos he lost 2-1 in Braga from the team of the same name, in the first game between them for the playoffs of this year’s Champions League.

The “greens” were better in the first half, but they failed to turn their superiority into a goal. Instead, the home side turned up the heat in the replay, capitalized on their opponent’s lapses and mistakes and took a two-goal lead with Ruith in the 51′ and Crazy -where a change was made- to 73′.

For him to come Mancini in the fifth minute of stoppage time from an assist by Ioannidis and shape the final result with a terrific goal, leaving qualification case open in the groups for both teams!

Among the highlights of the match, on the one hand, his return Aitor in action after 10 monthson the other hand debut of Arao with the green ones.

The rematch will be held on August 29 at 22:00 at OAKA.

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In the minds of the coaches:

THE Braga lined up having formation the 4-2-3-1, Mateus in goal and Gomes, Fonte, Niacate and Marin at the back. While Musrati and Carvalho were the inside midfielders, Horta-Bruma on the wings and Pizzi behind the promoted Abel Ruith.

THE Panathinaikos on the other hand, it “went down” with the only difference compared to the match with Marseille being the presence of Palacios instead of Verbic, also with a system 4-2-3-1 and Brignoli under the goalposts. Vaiannidis, Gedvai, Magnuson and Huancar formed the four in defense and Ruben-Vilena the duo in the axis. With Palacios, Djuricic and Mancini composing the trio behind Sporar, who was the centre-forward.

The match:

Panathinaikos entered determined not to… suffer the same in “Velodrome”. He pushed up, “ran” the ball and just in the 2nd minute he recorded his first very big chance…

When from a foul by Villena with a pass to Ruben and a cross from the Spanish midfielder to the second post, the unmarked Magnuson he got the header but the ball went wide of the left post!

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Indicative of the good start of the “greens” it was also the 7th minute, where Mancini was flagged for offside, but he was fed nicely by Jedvai and with an even nicer movement and execution, he managed to send the ball to the left post of Mateus.

Braga found it very difficult not to threaten but even to press into Brignoli’s area, with Vagiannidis proving adequate both up front and at the back throughout.

The first time he did so, however, in the 16th minute, Zweier awarded a penalty for an alleged trip by the young defender on Bruma. However, with VAR interventionthe German referee changed the decision and called an offensive foul.

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With the pace dropping from that point onwards, Panathinaikos was the one who had another great chance to open the scoring, with half an hour of play completed.

As from an effort by Vagiannidis, Palasios took the counter and came out opposite Mateus, side and right of the area. However, the Argentinian winger’s shot was weak and onto Mateus, who blocked it.

The entry of Andre Horta into the match, instead of the injured Musrati, in the 36th minute, improved the image of the Portuguese team, which visited the opposition frames three times until the break, but without managing to score.

After Bruma and Fonte’s headers in the 42′ and 44′ ended up in Brignoli’s arms and off the pitch, respectively. While from a nice collaboration and a final effort by Andre Horta in the second minute of stoppage time, Ruben found the ball and sent it into the corner.

In the second half it was Braga who arrived with the… good morning “a breath” from the goal, in her first real chance in the match, in the 48th minute. With Marin’s cross at the front post for Ruith who pounced on the move forcing Brignoli to power over for a corner.

The home side’s strong start to the replay was confirmed three minutes later, when it was also 1-0. With the combination of Bruma and Andre Horta from the left and the shot of Ruith ends up in the net of Brignoli!

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It took a few minutes, but Panathinaikos equalized the situation again. He warned with Palacios’ header in the 57th minute and squandered a huge chance to equalize five minutes later…

When Mancini went on the counter, he got past Fonte nicely, got into the area and played the ball to the oncoming Sporar, who in an empty net produced a poor finish, sending the ball over the bar!

And as if this incredible phase was not enough, another one came for the “clover”, which proved to be fatal again, in the 73rd minute. With Djalo, who had come on as a substitute earlier, taking advantage of the inactivity of the opposition defense after the execution of Ruith’s wing-out and Andre Horta’s pass, to succeed with a powerful shot of 2-0!

Ivan Jovanovic then made new changes, his team pressed, tried to get a goal, but almost found himself on the… canvas, in the third minute of stoppage time. When Ronnie Lopez came up against Brignoli but the Italian keeper saved his shot, keeping the score at 2-0.

Finally, in… 95′, it was the turn of another great moment for Panathinaikos, as from the excellent pass of Ioannidis, Mancini “executed” Mateus, making it 2-1!

MVP: Abel Ruith has managed to score Braga’s first goal and at the same time start the phase for his team’s 2-0. However, the Daniel Mancini not only was he one of the leaders of Panathinaikos today, but with the very nice goal which he scored in the 95th minute, kept his team in contention for qualification. In fact, he could have had an assist as well, if Sporar hadn’t missed the… unmissable.

the “whistle”: Felix Zweier he is charged with the wrong decision in the phase that indicated a penalty and he was… saved by Dingert, restoring “order”. At the same time, the German referee showed particular meticulousness in assigning fouls in favor of the home team, from one point onwards. Other than that, one would say that he was close in the phases and showed that he was in control of the game.

The compositions of the two teams:

Braga (Arthur Jorge): Mateus, Gomes, Fonte, Niacate, Marin, Musrati (36′ Andre Horta), Carvalho, Bruma (86′ Castro), Pizzi (66′ Jalo), Ricardo Horta (86′ Lopez), Ruith (86′ Banca).

They stayed on the bench: Sa, Hornicek, Saatsky, Oliveira, Salazar, Mendes, Sumare.

Panathinaikos (Ivan Jovanovic): Brignoli, Vagiannidis, Jedvai, Magnusson, Juancar, Ruben (82′ Arao), Vilena (76′ Cerin), Palacios (76′ Aitor), Djuricic (65′ Bernard), Mancini, Sporar (65′ Ioannidis).

They stayed on the bench: Lodgin, Xenopoulos, Schenkefeld, Sideras, Mladenovic, Kotsiras, Verbits.

Referee: Felix Zweier (Germany)

Assistants: Stefan Loup, Robert Kempter (Germany)

Fourth referee: Daniel Schlager (Germany)

VAR: Christian Dingert (Germany)

AVAR: Benjamin Brandt (Germany)

See here the description of the match from the Match Centre