Great are you, Panathinaikos, and marvelous are your deeds! The Greens of Rui Vitória succeeded and celebrated an important qualification against Shakhtar Donetsk, securing a place in the Europa League play-offs along with a spot in the European League Phase.

They fought another big battle and emerged victorious. They sweated, struggled, and put their soul into it (also) in Kraków, and in the end they overcame Shakhtar in the penalty shoot-out 4-3, after 120 goalless minutes but with endless hard work on the pitch.

The truth is that what football took away from the Shamrock in the matches against Rangers, it gave back against the Ukrainian team. The Greens kept Shakhtar – a highly attacking and dangerous side – at an absolute zero, playing with self-sacrifice and admirable tactical discipline. Coach Vitória’s plan was perfectly executed by the players, who for a fourth consecutive European match showed the quality of the work being done daily since the start of preparations.

Then came the penalties, where once again the class of penalty specialist Bartlomiej Drągowski spoke loud and clear, making two decisive saves before Daniel Mancini scored the winning penalty.

Panathinaikos will face Turkish Samsunspor in the Europa League play-offs, first on August 21 at OAKA and then on August 28 in Samsun.

As for the course of the match, just like in the first leg at OAKA, Panathinaikos had control of the game from the outset. In the 33rd minute, they threatened for the first time with a Maksimovic header that went wide. The first half ended goalless, with the Greens keeping Shakhtar away from their box.

In the second half, the game picked up pace but the Greens still seemed in control. In the 51st minute, they threatened with a long-range but inaccurate shot by Cerin, while Shakhtar “responded” in the 61st with a diagonal shot by Pedro Henrique, who was denied by Drągowski. In the same minute, Panathinaikos became dangerous with Pellistri from a wide angle, but Riznyk cleared, and in the 65th minute another great chance was lost when Swiderski shot over the bar.

In the 81st minute, Shakhtar was reduced to ten men after Ocheretko was sent off (second yellow card). Panathinaikos was lucky in the 88th minute when Nevertón’s close-range header hit Drągowski’s right post, and in the continuation Santana shot wide. In stoppage time, Chirivella shot from a good position into Riznyk’s arms.

In extra time, Panathinaikos again led the play. They tried to score in the 103rd minute with Jedvaj, in the 116th with Mancini, and in the 121st with Maksimović, but the ball would not go in, so it remained 0-0 until the end. After a total of 210 minutes of play without a goal, the two teams settled it on penalties.

Nazaryna hit the post in the first attempt; Ioannidis, Tobías, Jeremejeff, and Bondarenko all scored; Siopis was denied by Riznyk; Nevertón and Chirivella scored; Drągowski saved Elias’s penalty; Zaroury missed the chance to end it by shooting wide; but the Polish giant was there again, stopping Pedro Henrique’s penalty. Calm and composed, Daniel Mancini signed off with the winning penalty, sending the ball off the post and into the net for the final 4-3.

Panathinaikos shouts “present” once again in European competitions!

Penalty shoot-out

  • Nazaryna – post
  • Ioannidis 0-1
  • Tobías 1-1
  • Geremeev 1-2
  • Bondarenko 2-2
  • Siopis – saved by Riznyk
  • Nevertón 3-2
  • Chirivella 3-3
  • Elias – saved by Drągowski
  • Zaroury – wide
  • Pedro Henrique – saved by Drągowski
  • Mancini 3-4

Shakhtar: Riznyk, Pedro Henrique, Matviyenko, Bondar, Tobías, Marlon (101’ Nazaryna), Ocheretko, Bondarenko, Nevertón, Alison Santana (109’ Shved), Elias.

Panathinaikos: Drągowski, Kotsiras (101’ Jedvaj), Kyriakopoulos (113’ Jeremejeff), Palmer-Brown, Toubá, Chirivella, Maksimovic, Cerin (91’ Siopis), Tete (76’ Zaroury), Pellistri (101’ Mancini), Swiderski (76’ Ioannidis).