Panathinaikos and Botev Plovdiv's first game in their Europa League second qualifying round matchup will kick off on Thursday night at the Athens Olympic Stadium. The victor of the two games will play either FK Vojvodina or Ajax in the next round. The second leg is scheduled to take place in Bulgaria the following week. See our forecast down below.
The Greens' 2023–24 league season was largely lackluster; they finished eight points behind winner PAOK and dropped from second place to fourth position from the previous season. They did, however, succeed in taking home trophies after defeating Aris in the May Greek Football Cup.
In the previous season's Champions League qualifying phase, Panathinaikos made it to the playoff round; however, Braga eliminated them 3-1 overall. They subsequently participated in this competition, but after six games and only one win, they were placed last in their group.
The Shamrocks have played four friendly this month, winning the last two while losing and tying the previous two. The Greek Super League season is not yet began. Despite the fact that these teams have never faced off before, the bookies clearly favor the hosts.
In the meantime, the Canaries ended a six-year trophy drought last season when they defeated Ludogorets 3-2 in the Bulgarian Cup final. They qualified for Europe via that victory as well, having missed out on league status due to their seventh-place finish.
For the first time since they advanced to the third qualifying round in 2017–18, Botev Plovdiv is making a return trip to the Europa League qualification stages. Despite ten attempts, they have never reached the main draw.
The visitors, in contrast to their opponents, participated in the first qualifying round and defeated Maribor 4-3 overall. They have scored two goals or more in each of their previous four games, going undefeated across all competitions.
