Panathinaikos withstood the pressure of the penalty shoot-out to get past Olympique Marseille and book their ticket for the Champions League play-offs.
The ‘Trifylli’ won the tie 5-3 on penalties, with the match finishing 2-1 after extra time (2-2 on aggregate), keeping their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League group stage well and truly alive.
Marseille dominated the majority of the match and managed to score twice in the opening period through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The striker’s first came in the second minute after taking the ball around goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli and tapping the ball into an empty net before scoring again with a tidy finish from close range into the bottom right (45+1′).
The tie looked destined to finish in the French giants’ favour when the Greens were awarded a penalty by VAR late into regular time after it was found midfielder Matteo Guendouzi handled the ball, with forward Fotis Ioannidis burying the spot-kick into the top right to draw level on aggregate (90+9′).
The match went into extra time and Marseille thought they found their winner in the 112th minute through substitute Vitinho but VAR intervened again and found there was an offside player involved in the play.
The game went to penalties and Brignoli stepped up with a crucial save of the French side’s first spot-kick, diving to his right to keep out Guendouzi’s effort.
Panathinaikos successfully converted all five of their penalties, the final one coming from substitute Filip Mladenovic to send the Greens through to the next stage.
The ‘Trifylli’ will now face SC Braga in the final qualifying round before the group stages.
The good results continued with AEK, who struck late to win their away match with Dinamo Zagreb 1-2, setting themselves up perfectly to advance into the play-offs themselves.The Croatian side went in front via a fantastic free kick from midfielder Marko Bulat (39′), taking the advantage heading into the break.Enosi found an equaliser through forward Steven Zuber after he guided the ball into the bottom right corner.AEK took the lead in the 90th minute following a corner set-piece wherein Rodolfo Pizarro found Kostas Galanopoulos in the box, with the midfielder subsequently hitting the ball into the back of the net.
The two will meet on Sunday in the second match of the tie at “Agia Sophia” Stadium to decide who moves on to play FC Antwerp.
Aris Limassol lost 0-1 at home to Rakow Czestochowa (1-3 overall on aggregate) to drop down to the Europa League play-offs.
The Polish side found the match’s lone goal in the 49th minute, thanks to a free kick from midfielder Fran Tudor into the top right.
The Cypriot Champions will now battle Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League play-offs, with the victor advancing to the Europa League group stage and the loser dropping down to the Europa Conference League group stage.
