Panathinaikos has gotten their European qualifying campaign off to a positive start after defeating Botev Plovdiv, setting themselves up nicely to advance to the next round.

The “Trifylli” downed the Bulgarian outfit 2-1 at the Olympic Stadium on Friday morning (AEST) in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League second qualifying round tie, giving head coach Diego Alonso a winning start in his new post.

The Greens opened the scoring eight minutes into the contest after a long ball from defender Filip Mladenovic was expertly controlled by striker Alexandar Jeremejeff in the box, who then guided it into the bottom left.

Playmaker Anastasios Bakasetas then managed to double their lead right before the break, courtesy of a penalty he smashed down the middle (44′).

The Bulgarians found their way back into the game after (Alen Korosec) intercepted a poor pass from Greens midfielder Tonny Vilhena, with the midfielder combining with teammate Martin Sekulic for a one-two movement that saw him tap the ball into an empty net (70′).

Panathinaikos managed to hold onto their advantage for the rest of the game, though Botev Plovdiv’s strong second half performance will have given them confidence heading into the reverse fixture.

Omonia secured a strong 3-1 home success over Torpedo Kutaisi in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League, greatly boosting their odds of progression.

The Nicosia-based club took the lead in the 41st minute via centre half Senou Coulibaly, with the Georgian side equalising through forward Momo Yansane (74′).

Coulibaly restored their advantage minutes later (77′) before teammate Ewandro put the result beyond doubt (84′).

Pafos has fallen behind in their tie with Zalgiris, suffering a 2-1 away loss that has set up a very important second leg in Cyprus next week.

The Lithuanian club struck twice in the opening period, both goals coming from Liviu Antal (17′, 26′), before defender Joris Moutachy accidentally scored an own goal (62′) to give Pafos a chance to bring it level.

Zalgiris ultimately was able to protect its lead, giving Pafos an obstacle to overcome in their home match.

AEK Larnaca is on the verge of an early exit after losing 3-0 in their first leg away match with Paksi.

The Hungarians had control for essentially the entire contest with goals coming from Zsolt Haraszti (17′), Barna Toth (61′) and centre half Bence Otvos (74′).

The Cypriot club will now have to muster a truly remarkable performance in the second leg to overturn the three-goal deficit.