Panathinaikos vs Betis prediction 12.03.2026 | Europa League

The Greek Super League is better every season, and Panathinaikos have not won the most important domestic football trophy for more than 15 years. That is unlikely to change in the current campaign, either, as Panathinaikos are a big 11 points behind the league leaders, AEK. However, they are excellent lately with five victories in a row across all competitions. In the most recent outing, Panathinaikos won 4-1 on the road against Levadiakos. The visitors finished with xG of 2.96, while the hosts had only 1.05, so Panathinaikos' victory was never in question. Now, Benitez's team will welcome a much stronger opponent, but with their excellent form, they should be confident in a positive outcome.

Panathinaikos' head coach, Rafael Benitez, was satisfied with a victory over the weekend, but also with the season in Panathinaikos. He said, "With a rough calculation, when I came in, we were in 9th place; today, we locked in the top four, which was the minimum in the league. In the Cup, we went all the way to the semi-finals, and in the Europa League, we went through the playoffs, which was a primary goal. We are working very hard, we will see what we will do when we play Betis, but in Europe, anything we achieve now is a bonus."

Panathinaikos have big problems with missing players. They will be without suspended Ahmed Touba, Javier Hernandez, and Anastasios Bakasetas. Also, unavailable are Pedro Chirivella, Cyriel Dessers, Sverrir Ingi Ingason, Giannis Kotsiras, Georgios Kyriopoulos, and Erik Palmer-Brown due to injuries.

Real Betis are enjoying another solid season. In La Liga, they appear strong enough to finish among the top five, while in the Europa League, they could emerge as one of the tournament's dark horses. However, it seems Manuel Pellegrini's team has slowed in form recently, with only two points in the last three La Liga matches. In the previous game, Betis lost 2-0 on the road against Getafe. Although suffering a defeat, the visitors had many better goal-scoring chances, but a lack of clinical finishing cost them points.

Expectedly, Betis' head coach, Manuel Pellegrini, wasn't satisfied after a defeat against Getafe. He said, "I think there was a clear winner, and that was Getafe. They scored two goals, one from a harmless ball and the other from a long ball. We had two or three chances at the end, but overall, they were an opponent that outplayed us."

Sofyan Amrabat, Isco, and Giovani Lo Celso are injured and will not travel to Athens.