Marseille vs Panathinaikos Athens Prediction & Betting Tips - Champions League

Prediction published on 13/08/2023, 10:15  by Devesh Jaganath in Champions League Predictions

Olympique Marseille will be looking to overturn their first-leg deficit when they meet Panathinaikos for the concluding leg in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. The winner of this tie will face either Braga or Backa Topola in the playoff round. Panathinaikos currently lead the tie 1-0 thanks to a Bernard Duarte goal in the first leg last week. The Greek outfit took the ascendancy in the first leg after their opponents were reduced to ten men. While they dominated play from that point on, with 68% possession and 14 shots at goal, they only managed one attempt on target, which ultimately led to the goal. Panathinaikos overcame Dnipro-1 in the last round 5-3 on aggregate. They qualified to enter this competition in the second round by finishing second in the Greece Super League, and last competed in these qualifiers back in 2015-16 when they were knocked out in this round. Panathinaikos last qualified for the group stages in 2010-11 and failed to win any of their six group stage matches. They now have to find a way to hold off the French side at home, and bookmakers make them out as 6/1 outsiders to do so. 

Meanwhile, Marseille entered this competition in this round, having finished third in Ligue 1 last season. The hosts were beaten by Lens and perennial winners PSG by nine and ten points, respectively, though they were right in the competition until a poor run of results in the closing stages of the season when they lost four of the last five matches. Marseille recorded 22 wins, seven draws, and nine losses in their 38 matches. This season has begun much more promisingly with a 2-1 win over Reims in their first match of the campaign. Marseille competed in the group stages of the Champions League last season and won two of their six matches but ended at the bottom of a fiercely contested Group D, which included Tottenham Hotspur, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Sporting. The hosts will have to make do without the services of Geoffrey Kondogbia, who received two yellow cards in the first leg. Still, they are strongly fancied by the bookies and should come flying out the blocks in this one.