Great Panathinaikos, “fell” heroically in Amsterdam after… 34 penalties!

In the place where he has lived magical moments, with the opponent where he has experienced his most legendary day, the Panathinaikos appeared again! However, no matter how many times he came close to qualifying, the luck that had smiled on him in the 89th minute with Tete’s goal (0-1 d.a. & par.), turned his back on… the 33rd penalty of the process from the white bullet.

The “greens” chased to the end what fate had in store for them, Dragovski did everything to be with the “clover” in the playoffs of the Europa League and the final phase of the Conference League, but the finale was bittersweet.

THE 40 year old Pasvir he led Ajax to the next phase of the qualifiers of the second tier European inter-club competition, with “Aianda” prevailing 13-12 from the white arrow. The heroic way in which Panathinaikos “fell” shows that finally against Lance they will claim what belongs to them until the last second.

In the minds of the coaches:

THE Diego Alonso only made one change to 11th which he presented a week ago in Athens. He had Fotis Ioannidis perfectly healthy and ready and wanted his runs and actions on the pitch. So he placed him in attack from the start, with Juricic and Mancini flanking him in attack. In this 4-3-3 which became mainly 4-2-3-1 for Panathinaikos, Dragovski was under the posts, Kotsiras, Jedvai, Ingason and Mladenovic in defense, Arao with Cerin in midfield and a little Bakasetas further ahead.

Ajax had the same one 11th with the game of OAKA, with Francesco Farioli having been completely satisfied with the “battles” given by his players and rewarding them with their retention in the original formation. The Dutch lined up with: Pasvir, Rens, Hato, Henderson, Taylor, Akpom, Forbes, Baas, Berghaus, Fitch-Jim and Sutalo.

The match:

All the talk that unfolded from the moment of the conclusion of the first match in Athens, until the second half in Amsterdam, mainly concerned the need to be optimal Panathinaikos in the first 25 minutes. The slights he had presented at this point in time a week ago had proved to be decisive. Now, the “greens” did everything right until the 20th minute, but it was logical that Ajax would “wake up” at some point.

Until then, Alonso’s players did it all. Patient development. Possession with composure against Ayanta’s pressing, nice collaborations in a small space and Fotis Ioannidis playing flawlessly with his back to the goal and keeping the Dutch backs busy. The Greek striker in the 9th minute of the match saw the right shot from the area countered after an attempt by Djurisic and then he received the marking which… took the bite out of his mouth.

The “greens” managed to apply pressure from their attacking third, but Ajax managed to turn the momentum around. And he was already showing his mood with Forbes on the left trying to cause Kotsira big problems. With Henderson being excellent in creation and filling Dragovski’s frames with balls and trouble, problems began for Panathinaikos. In the 29th minute, Ioannidis deflected a header from the terrible high player, Akpom, almost on the line. beam in the 33rd minute.

Dragovski’s terrific stuff continued in the second half, but this time Pasvir told him to emulate him and stop Panathinaikos’ huge chances when looking for a goal. Both in the 54th minute in the tête-à-tête with Djurisic, and in the 63th minute in the diagonal shot by Cerin, the goalkeeper of “Aianda” reacted correctly. And with that he showed the “greens” that he was determined not to lose the advantage from the first match.

At the same time the goalkeeper of the “clover” had impressively stopped Taylor in a huge opportunity, but the most important thing was that Panathinaikos had maintained a balance that was missing from 20′ to 45′. Diego Alonso bet on Tete to offer offensively and also took out Ioannidis for Geremegev to enter in the 75′ when the Greek forward had started to lose himself from the game. The Uruguayan coach continued the… inspirations and he also changed his midfielders to completely refresh the team, with Maksimovic and Vilena coming on for the final quarter. And their clear minds, along with breaths and luck, paid off!

After Gods first hit the crossbar unmarked in the area in the 88th minute, Tete scored 1-0 in the 89th minute!

Geremegev and Vilena worked together, they were favored by the counterattacks so that the ball reached the new transfer acquisition of the “greens” and he beat Pasvir with a low left position. Panathinaikos now had to “step” on psychological boosting and shock of the last moment that Ajax had suffered. With Ingasson leading the way in difficult moments, Tete daring with stubbornness, and the rest holding out until the end of the 120′, the match went to an amazing penalty shootout.

There, after 34 executions, many lost match-balls, saves by the two great goalkeepers and missed penalties by Mladenovic and Vilena at the end, came the disqualification from Panathinaikos, who will now continue in the Conference League playoffs against Lance.

MVP: Pasvir deserves it even more with what he did during the match, but also with his saves in the process from the white bullet. However, it would be a great injustice not to credit this title to Dragovski who also made an incredible effort for the good of Panathinaikos, with Ingason following him and Tete of course having the goal that allowed the “greens” to reach the finals. penalty kick.

the “whistle”: Chris Kavanagh was essentially only employed for the phase in the first half where Ioannidis and the “greens” asked for a penalty, with the referee after communicating with VAR deciding to show the continuation of the match. The Englishman did not have a difficult night throughout the rest of the game.

The elevens of the match:

Panathinaikos (Diego Alonso): Dragovski, Kotsiras (68′ Vaiannidis), Jedvai, Ingason, Mladenovic, Arau (80′ Maksimovic), Cerin (80′ Vilena), Bakasetas (97′ Zeka), Mancini, Djurisic (68′ Tete), Ioannidis (75′ Geremegev)

Ajax (Francesco Farioli): Pasvir, Rennes (109′ Bergwein), Hato (98′ Brombay), Henderson, Taylor, Akpom (60′ Traore), Forbes (60′ Gods), Baas, Berghaus (70′ Guy), Fitch-Jim (70′ Phan den Boumen), Soutalo

Referee: Chris Kavanagh (England)

Assistants: Betts/Manwaring (England)

VAR: Banks/Hopton (England)

Fourth: Barrett (England)