Panathinaikos hope to land knockout punch

Panathinaikos FC will be aiming to win their first UEFA Champions League knockout contest since 1996 when they welcome Villarreal CF to the OACA Spiro Louis Stadium having recorded a battling draw in Spain on Matchday 7.

• Villarreal went into the first leg unbeaten in ten UEFA Champions League fixtures at their El Madrigal home, but that record came under serious threat a minute before the hour when a superb long-range strike from Giorgos Karagounis gave the visitors the lead. The advantage proved short-lived, however, Giuseppe Rossi converting a penalty won by Robert Pirès within eight minutes to leave the tie finely poised, although Panathinaikos must do without their captain Giannis Goumas for this second leg after his first-half booking in Spain.

• Panathinaikos have a fine record in the European Champion Clubs' Cup when earning an away first-leg draw, winning eight and losing only one – against Ferencvárosi TC in the 1965/66 first round – of nine ties. Should there be any danger of complacency, however, the Athens club need only look back to the 1995/96 semi-finals when a 1-0 first-leg victory at AFC Ajax was followed by a 3-0 defeat in Athens – the only time in the UEFA Champions League era a side has won away in the first leg and not progressed.

• The Athens club ended Group B in fine style, taking maximum points from their last three fixtures to clinch a place in the competition's knockout stage for the first time in seven years. In contrast, their first three games in their eighth UEFA Champions League campaign had yielded a single point.

• At home, Henk ten Cate's side finished with a 1-0 win against Anorthosis Famagusta FC to seal their qualification as group winners on ten points, two ahead of FC Internazionale Milano. Their previous home games in the section had brought a defeat, 2-0 against the Italian champions, and a draw, 2-2 with Werder Bremen.

• The Greek team's last involvement in a knockout tie in Europe's premier club competition resulted in defeat at the hands of a Spanish side with FC Barcelona's 3-1 victory at the Camp Nou in the 2001/02 quarter-finals taking them through after the game in Greece had ended in a 1-0 win for Panathinaikos.

• Their only previous UEFA Champions League knockout round games had come in 1995/96 when they beat Legia Warszawa 3-0 at home in the quarter-final second leg after a goalless opener before the aforementioned last-four aggregate defeat by Ajax.

• Panathinaikos have a good record at home to Spanish visitors in official games and have yet to be beaten in eight meetings, winning three and drawing five. In their three knockout ties, however, the Athens side have come off second best every time.

• The last time Villarreal were at this stage they continued their journey, their competition debut, all the way to the semi-finals. In the 2005/06 season they removed Rangers FC from the first knockout round, winning on away goals after the teams battled to a 2-2 draw in Glasgow and 1-1 in Spain. They then won their quarter-final against Inter via the same method after losing 2-1 in Milan and winning 1-0 at home. Their run ended in the semi-finals, with a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal FC followed by a goalless home draw.

• The two sides had never met in UEFA club competition before the first leg.

• In the 2007/08 UEFA Cup Villarreal travelled to AEK Athens FC in the group stage and won 2-1. Their interest in the competition ended in the Round of 32 when they lost on away goals to eventual winners FC Zenit St. Petersburg.

• Villarreal's only other meeting with Greek opponents in an official fixture came in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group stage when they beat Egaleo FC 4-0 at home with Javi Venta and Santi Cazorla both on the scoresheet. They reached the quarter-finals that season before losing 3-2 on aggregate to AZ Alkmaar, losing 2-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away.

• Villarreal's only defeat in Group E came away from home and with qualification already assured, going down 2-0 against Celtic FC on Matchday 6. They finished in second place on nine points, one behind Manchester United FC, drawing their other away games, 0-0 at Old Trafford and 2-2 in Denmark against Aalborg BK.

• Villarreal, however, can perhaps take heart from past encounters in UEFA club competition where they have drawn at home in the first leg, with the Spanish side winning two of those ties and losing the other. ES Troyes Aube Champagne were overcome in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-finals and Trabzonspor defeated in the first round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round, both after goalless first legs. Villarreal's campaign in the latter competition came to an end after a goalless semi-final first leg at El Madrigal was followed by a 1-0 defeat at Valencia CF.

• The omens are less favourable for the Yellow Submarine when they have found themselves having to score in the second leg away from home, however. That has been the case on only three occasions, with Villarreal losing at home to NK Maribor (2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup third round), AZ Alkmaar (2004/05 UEFA Cup quarter-finals) and Málaga CF (2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup final) and failing to turn the tie round in the return fixture.

• Panathinaikos players Nikos Spiropoulos, Karagounis and Dimitris Salpingidis started for Greece in their 2-1 defeat against Spain in Salzburg in UEFA EURO 2008™ Group D on 18 June 2008. Alexandros Tzorvas and Goumas were on the bench. For Spain, Santi Cazorla came on in the 58th minute while Joan Capdevila and Marcos Senna were unused substitutes.

• Pascal Cygan has unhappy memories of Panathinaikos having put through his own net while at Arsenal to give the visitors a 1-1 draw at Highbury in the 2004/05 group stage. Robert Pirès also played for the English club in that game and in the reverse fixture in Athens two weeks previously, which finished 2-2.

• Panathinaikos have never been involved in a penalty shoot-out in UEFA club competition.

• Villarreal have won both their previous shoot-outs in European competition:
4-3 v Torino FC, 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup third round
3-1 v Club Atlético de Madrid, 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup final

• The draw for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals will take place at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on 20 March.