Botev Plovdiv vs Panathinaikos prediction 01.08.2024 | Europa League

• Competition: Europa League Qualifiers, 2nd Round, 2nd Leg
• Date: Thursday, 1st August, 2024
• Kickoff: 19:00 UK / 20:00 CEST
• Venue: Stadion Hristo Botev (Plovdiv)

After a 2:1 win for Panathinaikos in Greece, the Greek team will travel to Bulgaria for the second leg of the second round of Europa League Qualifiers. The match will take place at Stadion Hristo Botev in Plovdiv.

Botev Plovdiv were not among the best teams in Bulgaria last year, even failing to reach the Championship round. However, they managed to make the last season one of their best ever as they won the Cup title, their seventh major title in a 112-year-old history. When it comes to Europe, at least in the 21st century, Botev Plovdiv were far from impressive. Before this year, they had only four appearances and never went past the 3rd Qualifying round. This year, their European campaign started in the first round when they eliminated Maribor on a 4:3 aggregate.

Panathinaikos, one of the biggest clubs in Greece, are without a league title since the 2009/10 season. Last year, they were in a good position to win it, but with only one point during the last four games, they blew the opportunity. However, they salvaged the season to some extent by winning the domestic Cup - their 20th in the club's history. Unlike Botev Plovdiv, Panathinaikos started the European journey in the second round. Now, before the second leg (after a 2:1 in the first round), the bookies see Panathinaikos as a massive favorite to secure the third round, offering odds under 1.1 on that bet.

Botev Plovdiv vs Panathinaikos pick: Panathinaikos to win

Panathinaikos dominated the game in the first leg and created so many good scoring chances it was a miracle they did not score at least one or two more goals. Botev Plovidiv had really big problems when defending in trasition as Panathinaikos easily created chances from the flanks. Now, they need to open against Panathinaikos, which could easily backfire since they had problems defending Panathinaikos counter attacks.

On the other hand, Botev Plovdiv managed to create a couple of good chances, but those were after two uncharacteristic mistakes by Panathinaikos's defense. If the Greek team eliminates those mistakes, we do not see how Botev Plovdiv could threaten Panathinaikos.

At home, Botev Plovdiv have a pretty good record in European games, at least in recent years. Still, if we take a closer look, we can see they mainly faced poor teams, much weaker than Panathinaikos.

Considering all the above, but especially what we saw in the first round, we expect Panathinaikos to secure another victory and advance to the third round without too many problems.