THE Panathinaikos faces New Saints away from home (22:00, Newsit.gr, Cosmote Sport 5 HD) for the 5th matchday of the League Phase in the Conference League, with Rui Vitoria to choose the well-known successful recipe for victory.
New Saints may be a very weak opponent, but tonight’s game for Panathinaikos can also be considered as a final. And this is because the “greens” only want the victory in order to be able to stay on track for qualification for the next phase of the Conference League through positions 9-24.
The coach of the “green” Rui Vitoria knows the above better than anyone, who wants his team to go to the next phase of the competition.
That is why, in the game that his players will play in Shrewsbury, England, the Portuguese is not willing to experiment.
The only absence for Panathinaikos is Sporar, who could not overcome the problem that has been plaguing him for days in the achilles. On the other hand, Unai, who was left out at the last moment from the recent 1-0 victory of the “clover” in Tripoli due to discomfort, returned and gathers enough chances to play in the starting lineup.
However, Pelistri, who has been in shape lately, developed a high fever due to the virus that was bothering him, as a result of which he was “cut” from the Panathinaikos mission at the last moment.
In Vitoria’s mind
Rui Vitoria knows that after such a demanding game against Asteras and although the schedule of the “trefoil” is burdened, he has to do some management in his team’s roster, however in tonight’s game the Portuguese will go with the familiar recipe of the last ones winning games.
This means that the formation will be either 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, with Dragovski in goal, Jedvai and Ingason in the stoppers, with Mladenovic on the left and Kotsira on the right, in order for Vaiannidis to take a few breaths after the consecutive games he has given.
In the center, Arao does not move from position “6” with the Brazilian probably flanked by Cerin and Bacacheta, with the latter having a more advanced role on the field.
In the wings and with the absence of Pelistri, Tete and Djurisic have “locked” their positions, with Fotis Ioannidis starting at the top of the attack.