Celta v Panathinaikos background
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Article summary
In their first European home game since March 2007, Celta will welcome Panathinaikos for the first time, the Greek side without a win in ten UEFA group stage away fixtures.
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Celta's first European home game in nearly a decade brings Panathinaikos to Galicia in UEFA Europa League Group G, the Greek side hoping to win in Spain for the first time.
Previous meetings
• The teams are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition.
• Celta beat Aris Thessaloniki 4-2 on aggregate in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup second round in their only previous encounter with Greek opponents.
• Panathinaikos's record in 25 matches with Spanish sides is W3 D7 L15 (D1 L11 in Spain). That lone away draw was a 1-1 at Villarreal in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League round of 16.
Form guide
• Celta lost their most recent European home fixture 1-0 to Werder Bremen, in the UEFA Cup round of 16 in March 2007.
• This is Celta's first European campaign since they made it through the group stage and into the round of 16 of the 2006/07 UEFA Cup.
• Panathinaikos are unbeaten in their last three UEFA away games (W1 D2), but are without a victory in ten UEFA group stage away trips (D2 L8) since a 3-2 win at Roma in the 2009/10 UEFA Europa League round of 32.
• Having successfully negotiated their first three UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, Panathinaikos have missed the cut in their last two attempts.
Links and trivia
• The journey from Athens to Vigo is around 2,800km.
• Panathinaikos's Swedish forward Marcus Berg scored on matchday one to mark his 50th UEFA club competition appearance.
• Celta's Giuseppe Rossi notched his 17th UEFA Europa League goal on matchday one; only Radamel Falcao (30) and Óscar Cardozo (20) have registered more in the competition.
• Panathinaikos's Ghanaian midfielder Mubarak Wakaso played in Spain with Elche, Villarreal and Espanyol.
The coaches
• Eduardo Berizzo played in the UEFA Champions League for both Marseille and Celta, the former Argentina centre-back returning to Europe in 2014 to take charge of the Galician club. He led them back into Europe with a sixth-placed finish in 2015/16.
• Italian coach Andrea Stramaccioni steered Panathinaikos to a third-place finish in Greece last term, his first season with the club. A qualified lawyer whose playing career was ended by injury, he specialised as a youth coach before managing Internazionale Milano and Udinese in Serie A.