Our prediction for this Europa League match:
Villarreal
Match Time & Date:
30/11/2023
21:00
Prediction: 2-0
Panathinaikos
Buoyed by a 3-1 win over Osasuna on Marcelino’s return to Villarreal, the Yellow Submarine will look to give fans yet another reason to celebrate when they face Panathinaikos in round 5 of the Europa League group stages. Veteran Jose Luis Morales, who scored a hat-trick at the weekend, should keep his place up front as a lone forward, while all Sorloth, Mandi, Suarez, and Coquelin are likely to miss out with injuries.
PAO, on the other hand, aim to climb to second place in the standings, but given their difficulties on the road, home win should be considered. Villarreal are hungry for revenge and we predict that they will get one with the new boss Marcelino, who is surely capable of bringing glory days back to Estadio de la Ceramica. As for the away team, all Juankar, Magnusson, and Palmer-Brown remain on the sidelines with injuries, while Serbia international Filip Djuricic should be recalled to the starting XI.
Highlighted Player (Andraz Sporar):
Born in Ljubljana, Slovenia on February 27, 1994, Andraz Sporar is a striker who plays for Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava. Sporar spent his youth career at the likes of Olimpija, MNK Ljubljana and Interblock and he continued playing for the last mentioned club at senior level.
After scoring 10 goals in 21 appearances for the club, the Slovenian attacker moved to his hometown club Olimpija Ljubljana where he earned the captaincy. Andraz Sporar was scoring goals for fun in the Slovenian top flight, netting 46 goals in 95 appearances in the league, but he then decided to take a step forward in his career.
In the 2015/2016 season he moved to Swiss outfit Basel, but he made no more than 19 appearances in the league for the RotBlau. During his spell with Basel Sporar played for Arminia Bielefeld on loan as well and in the winter of 2018 he joined Slovan Bratislava. Speaking of his international career, he made his debut with Slovenia in November 2016 against Malta.
Highlighted Team (Panathinaikos):
Despite being founded on 3 February, 1908, Panathinaikos won their first domestic trophy in 1930. However, they quickly established themselves as one of the biggest clubs in Greece. Oi Prasinoi clinched their 20th Greek Superleague trophy in 2010, with the team finishing the season six points clear of their fiercest rivals Olympiakos.
There have always been fireworks in meetings between the two capital clubs and the clash between the two sides is well known as the “Derby of eternal enemies”. According to UEFA Panathinaikos are the second most-popular team football team in Greece. Speaking of the club’s European success, PAO made it to the 1970/1971 European Cup (Champions League) final, but Ajax proved to be a big catch for the Greek side in the title game.
It is well known that green trifolium (shamrock) is the club’s emblem. Giorgos Karagounis, Djibril Cisse, Emmanuel Olisadebe, Paulo Sousa and Goran Vlaovic are notable footballers who played for PAO in the past. Giourkas Seitaridis, Antonis Nikopolidis, Kostas Chalkias, Angelos Basinas, Giannis Goumas and Dimitris Papdopoulos are Panathinaikos players who helped Greece win the 2004 European Championship trophy.
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