Panathinaikos concluded its pre-season tour in Austria with a fourth and final friendly, suffering a loss before heading back to Athens to enter the final stretch of preparations ahead of the crucial encounters with Rangers.
Panathinaikos completed the main stage of their preseason preparations on Austrian soil with a friendly match against Braga. The Greens were defeated 2-1 by the Portuguese side and now return to Athens to enter the final stretch ahead of their crucial Champions League qualifying matches against Rangers.
In the first half, Panathinaikos had the upper hand, moved the ball well, and applied pressure on Braga, who nevertheless opened the scoring unexpectedly in the 38th minute through Horta. Earlier, Panathinaikos could have scored in the 14th minute with a header from Maksimović, but the Portuguese goalkeeper made the save.
The second half started with six new faces in the Panathinaikos lineup, and in the 67th minute, Rui Vitória made five more changes to give playing time to most of the squad. In the meantime, and despite Panathinaikos once again starting well and producing some good combinations, Braga scored a second goal in the 56th minute in surprising fashion, this time through El Ouazani.
Before that, the Greens created chances with Djuričić (47’), Świderski (51’), and Tete (52’). Eventually, Panathinaikos found the goal they deserved in the 71st minute after a nice assist from Mancini and an excellent finish by Ioannidis, who made it 2-1.
Panathinaikos’ final test before the matches against Rangers is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16 at OAKA (21:00), against Dutch side Westerlo.
Panathinaikos: Dragowski (46’ Lodygin), Vagiannidis (64’ Kotsiras), Palmer-Brown (46’ Jedvaj), Ingason (46’ Toumba), Mladenović (46’ Kyriakopoulos), Chirivella (64’ Cerin), Maksimović (46’ Siopis), Tete (64’ Bregu), Bakasetas (46’ Pellistri), Djuričić (64’ Mancini), Świderski (64’ Ioannidis).
Braga: Bellarus (46’ Hornicek), Arei-Embi (46’ Dorgeles), Lagerbielke (46’ Tiago), Paulo Oliveira (55’ Chisumba), Lelo (46’ Djibril), Moutinho (46’ Roger), Gorbi (46’ Diego), Vidingal (46’ Carvalho), Ricardo Horta (46’ Matos), Garbi (46’ Da Rocha), Navarro (46’ El Ouazani).
