Panathinaikos deserved more but got nothing in Rotterdam. The Greens wronged themselves once again, as they created the right conditions for a positive result but were ultimately defeated 3–1 by Feyenoord at De Kuip in the third round of the Europa League Phase.
In front of more than 3,000 fans who gave dynamic support in the stands despite adverse weather conditions—which even led to a change in the match time (initially set for 19:45, moved to 17:30, and finally fixed at 22:00 Greek time)—the Greens entered the pitch with great determination and impressive tactical discipline. They fully controlled the pace of the game, essentially taking the reins. At the same time, they were effective offensively, as they scored from their first big chance.
In the 18th minute, Kyriakopoulos, Swiderski, and Djuricic exchanged the ball beautifully. The Serbian midfielder laid it off to the Greek full-back, who shot powerfully. The Feyenoord goalkeeper parried, and Swiderski pounced on the rebound, making it 0–1 with a bouncing shot—his third consecutive goal in the League Phase, having already scored against Young Boys and Go Ahead Eagles.
The Shamrock had a huge chance to double the lead in the 24th minute when Tete was denied by Wellenreuther in a one-on-one. The Dutch side tried to threaten between the 38th and 41st minutes, but Tuba and Dragowski reacted correctly to avert danger. In the 45th minute, Tete had another good effort, but his shot went wide. Panathinaikos also built a great play in stoppage time (45+1’), when Swiderski was brought down inside the box—a moment that sparked penalty protests from the Greens.
Instead of 0–2, though, it became 1–1. In the 45+3rd minute, the Panathinaikos defense failed to clear a cross from Sliti, and Reed calmly finished to equalize in the final second of the half.
Panathinaikos started the second half (49’) with a fine move and a diagonal shot by Kyriakopoulos that went just wide. Feyenoord managed to turn the game around in the 55th minute through an individual effort and precise finish from Musa, making it 2–1.
In the 64th minute, Dragowski made a brilliant save on Ueda’s shot, while in the 80th minute the Shamrock had a massive chance to equalize when Cerin was denied by Feyenoord’s goalkeeper, who saved crucially. The Slovenian threatened again in the 84th minute with a header that went just wide. The Greens couldn’t find the equalizer and eventually conceded a third goal in the 90th minute from Larin, who scored from close range to seal the 3–1 final score.
Feyenoord: Wellenreuther, Reed (78’ Nieuwkoop), Ahmedhodzic, Smal, Bosch (65’ Watanabe), Hwang (46’ Oussama), Stengs, Valente, Musa, Ueda (81’ Larin), Sliti (65’ Sauer).
Panathinaikos: Dragowski, Kotsiras (84’ Taborda), Kyriakopoulos, Ingason, Tuba, Siopis, Cerin, Calabria, Djuricic (69’ Zaroury), Tete (69’ Pantovic), Swiderski.
