It’s one of those nights where no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, the ball just doesn’t go in the goal. Panathinaikos gave his soul on the pitch, the team’s crowd was sensational, filling the stands of OAKA and the Greens created the conditions for a great qualification to the Champions League group stage. However, the ball did not want to enter the goal…
The goal that Panathinaikos so deserved was found in the end by Braga, who prevailed 1-0 and got the ticket for the Champions League group stage. The final whistle at the OAKA found the Greens bitter and hurt at the great missed opportunity but the very warm applause from the crowd showed recognition of the great effort put in by Ivan Jovanovic’s side. The European journey for Panathinaikos may not continue in the Champions League groups, but the Greens will be present in the Europa League for new glorious European nights…
No matter how hard they tried, no matter how much they pressed, no matter how much the players chased the goal, they could not achieve it. In fact, in a moment of inactivity defensively and while the whole team had come forward to score, Braga found the decisive goal. In 83′, the Portuguese changed the ball quickly, Bruma found himself alone against Brignoli and made it 0-1.
The Greens ended the game with ten men due to Juankar being sent off in the 91st minute with a second yellow card.
Panathinaikos: Brignoli, Vagiannidis, Huankar, Jedvaj (43′ Schenkeveld), Magnusson, Ruben (78′ Cerin), Vilhena, Bernard (78′ Djuricic), Mancini, Palacios (62′ Aitor), Ioannidis (62′ Sporar).
Braga: Mateus, Gomez, Fonte, Niacate (49′ Serdar), Marin, Carvalho, Ricardo Horta, Andre Horta (65′ Pizzi), Bruma (87′ Paolo Oliveira), Abel Ruiz (87′ Banza), Djalo (65′ Zalazar).
