The UEFA Champions League is back once again this week as the football season really starts to get underway. The aim of the game here is to determine who will eventually make it to the group stage of the UCL as the qualification phase begins to really heat up. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be an enticing clash between Marseille and Panathinaikos.
Marseille Form GuideThey tailed off towards the end of last season but after a third place finish in Ligue 1, Marseille proved that they are more than capable of hanging with the top teams in French football - which is what many believed to be true of them all along. Now, with their home support behind them, they’ll be hoping for the kind of result that takes the club back to the good old days.
The good news for Marseille is that they opened up the Ligue 1 season with a 2-1 win over Reims. The bad news, of course, is that they lost 1-0 to Panathinaikos in the first leg of this crucial tie.
Panathinaikos Form GuideThey fell short in their pursuit of the title in Greece last season but make no mistake about it, Panathinaikos are back in business. They have a passionate fanbase, a good structure within the club, and the confidence to really kick on and start pulling off some serious upsets. If they’re going to really make a push, it has to come now, and they have to be strong defensively.
Dnipro-1 provided stiff resistance when put against Panathinaikos in the second round, with the Greeks eventually getting the better of them. Then, in the first leg of this game, they did what they needed to do in a 1-0 win.
Match PredictionThis has the potential to be a really fun encounter but in equal measure, we also think it’ll be quite tense and physical. Panathinaikos will have to put up a really stern defensive performance if they want to survive and although we think they’re capable of doing so, we’re still going to back a Marseille win.
