Panathinaikos v Estoril background
Friday, November 28, 2014
Article summary
Panathinaikos FC will look to bring the curtain down on a disappointing UEFA Europa League Group E campaign with a victory as they take on Estoril Praia in Athens.
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Article body
Panathinaikos FC can avoid finishing bottom of UEFA Europa League Group E if they can beat Estoril Praia – by a significant margin – on matchday six.
• Neither side can finish higher than third in the section.
Form guide
• Goals from Kléber and Diogo Amado earned Estoril a 2-0 win when they met Panathinaikos for the first time on matchday two.
• Panathinaikos have failed to score in all three of their previous home games against Portuguese sides, with FC Porto their opponent on each occasion (D2 L1).
• Panathinaikos have lost three of their four European home fixtures this season; Estoril are without a continental win in five matches on the road (D2 L3).
Trivia and links
• Panathinaikos's Lisbon-born captain Zeca moved to Greece in 2011 having represented Casa Pia AC and Vitória FC in his native Portugal.
• Three Estoril players have represented Greek clubs: Polish goalkeeper Paweł Kieszek (Egaleo FC) as well as defenders Mano (Levadiakos FC) and Emídio Rafael (Platanias FC).
• Panathinaikos's Danijel Pranjić spent six months in the Liga with Sporting Clube de Portugal.
The coaches
• Panathinaikos coach Giannis Anastasiou was capped five times by Greece and played abroad with RSC Anderlecht, Roda JC and AFC Ajax among others. Briefly a first-team coach at Reading FC in England, he took command at Panathinaikos in May 2013.
• Estoril coach José Couceiro has had a varied career since taking charge of FC Alverca in the early 2000s. At various times he has been Portugal Under-21 coach and Lithuania's national team boss, opting for adventures in Turkey and Russia more recently. He took charge at Estoril this year after leaving Vitória FC.
