Braga vs Panathinaikos Preview

Portuguese side Braga will welcome Greek side Panathinaikos to the Estádio Municipal de Braga this Wednesday for the first leg of the final round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

The hosts may be shaky in the domestic Primeira Liga having won one and lost one of their opening league games, but they have been solid in the UCL.

They thrashed Serbian side TSC 7-1 on aggregate in the last round to move to the final qualification round for the upcoming UCL. Bidding to reach the competition’s group stage for the first time in a decade, the hosts are warm favourites for the home leg against Greece’s Panathinaikos.

After beating ten-man Chaves 4-2 at the weekend, they will fancy their chances of getting goals here as that 4-2 win is their sixth 3+ goal haul from their last ten competitive outings.

Meanwhile, Panathinaikos will travel to Portugal looking to get a good result that will facilitate their return to the group stage of the UCL for the first time since 2010/11.

This is their fifth attempt since then to make it through the qualifying rounds and they have had quite a journey. The visitors overcame Marseille via penalties after two hard-fought legs earlier this month to qualify for this round.

But, taking a victory home from Portugal in this first leg may be a bit harder given that Panathinaikos last won a UEFA away trip as an underdog in August 2014 (D3, L8).

Yet still, the Greek side have the advantage of being able to devote all of their focus and resources to this competition with their first game of the new Greek Super League season postponed to make room for this journey to Portugal.