Greens await Spanish high-flyers

With the UEFA Cup set to resume after its winter break, uefa.com looks at the form of the 32 clubs involved in first-leg ties this week.

Panathinaikos FC v Sevilla FC
After their exit from the UEFA Champions League, Panathinaikos ended 2004 in second place in the Alpha Ethniki thanks to consecutive but hard-fought victories against Ergotelis FC, Halkidona FC and PAOK FC. However, the first match of 2005 gave an indication of the problems that were about to beset the Greens as they lost the capital derby 1-0 against AEK Athens FC with the club's former striker Nikolaos Lyberopoulos scoring the only goal. Panathinaikos then saw off OFI Crete FC 5-1 before being held to a goalless draw at Ionikos FC which was followed by a 3-1 loss to Xanthi FC. Another blow for coach Zdenek Scasny came with a 3-1 Greek Cup defeat by AEK.

With speculation about Scasny's future rife, former Panathinaikos player Panagiotis Fylakouris oversaw the 5-1 weekend success against Apollon Kalamarias FC. New signing Theofanis Gekas, the league's top scorer with 12 goals, added two more to his tally and also contributed an assist. Apart from Gekas, Panathinaikos have signed Cypriot midfield player Konstantinos Haralambidis (not eligible for the UEFA Cup), Dutch midfielder Nordin Wooter, Brazilian defensive midfielder Anderson da Lima Freitas and left-back Manolis Roubakis. Greek international defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos left for Rangers FC in Scotland.

Players registered: Anderson De Lima Freitas, Theofanis Gekas, Nordin Wooter.
Players out: Njogu Demba Nyren, Joel Epalle, Konstaninos Chalkias, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Dumitru Mitu.

Saturday's 2-1 win over Villarreal CF may have seen Sevilla climb to third in the Spanish Primera División table but 2005 has not started as well as the previous year finished. A 1-0 victory over Real Madrid CF at the Santiago Bernabéu, secured by Julio Baptista's goal, was a great way to leave 2004 but then came a disappointing 0-0 draw with Getafe CF and a shock 1-0 defeat by Málaga CF. A 2-0 win against Albacete Balompié was followed by more setbacks; a 4-0 defeat by league leaders FC Barcelona and elimination from the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage by CA Osasuna.

Injury problems have not helped. Right-back Sergio Ramos is nursing a sprained knee, centre-back Pablo Ruiz will miss the rest of the season with a torn cruciate ligament and Jesús Navas has a strained hamstring. Carlos Aranda will come in for Carlitos Domínguez against Panathinaikos and striker Ariza Makukula has returned after a lengthy absence with a knee injury. Renato gained his European passport, thus allowing Adriano Correia to arrive from Coritiba FC. Central defender Óscar Rodríguez has returned after several months on loan in the Segunda División with Real Valladolid.

Players registered: Adriano Correia, Diego Capel Trinidad.
Players out: Marco Navas González, Kepa Blanco González, Jésus Navas Gonzalez, José Antonio Puerta Pérez, Sergio Ramos García.