Derby of The Eternal Enemies Preview: Panathinaikos

Derby of The Eternal Enemies Preview: Panathinaikos

By: Antoni

 

October 2, 2021

 

Panathinaikos is back again this weekend, and it won’t just be any old game, no this weekend  is the derby of the eternal enemies. The most anticipated match in Greek football and one that is always bound to be drama filled, intense, and exciting. This year the derby has come quite early. There have only been a handful of matches played and yet here we are on matchday five with the headline game already here.

 

Panathinaikos have started the season off in an odd fashion. Two wins and two losses, yet the performances in the wins at home were drastically different to the two losses that the team played away. At home Panathinaikos play a very attractive brand of football under Ivan Jovanovic, quick build up, high pressing football that exudes the “ooh’s” and “ah’s” from the home faithful.

 

Playing away from home though has been a bit of a different story, and that is what has me a little bit anxious about the game this weekend. The team are continuing their streak of poor performances away from home that began last season, and this match against Olympiakos away will be another test for the team. Our team has struggled early on as already stated, but I also think that the schedule hasn’t been the most favorable to us either. Two consecutive away games against Giannina and Aris were always going to be difficult. Now yet another tough away game lays ahead of us. It will be interesting to see what Jovanovic can come up with for this game.

What’s more is that the team is also plagued with an onslaught of injuries to key players. Fran Velez went down last week against Volos, while Kotsiras, Ioannidis, and Dioudis have also been sidelined for the derby tomorrow. This leaves Jovanovic with a bit of a dilemma and limited options for the backline with one of his best forwards out as well. Still though, the team has a red hot Carlitos who has four goals to his name so far, and an ace in Mateus Vital who has been a key component to the team’s two big wins to start the season.

Should the team play with the 4-2-3-1 again? I think this is the most likely scenario since Jovanovic favors the shape, and I can’t fault him. It provides a nice balance and playing Ruben Perez just in front of Sarlija and Poungourras will provide some much needed cover. I think it goes without question that Sotiris Alexandropoulos must start in this match. He provides the speed that both Ruben and Mauricio lack, while also seeking to move the ball forward, cut passing lanes, and dispossess opponents in the midfield. His performances to start the season have merited him the starting spot for tomorrow’s match in my opinion.  

 

Olympiakos seem to have shaken off the rust from the summer preparations and their huge win in Constantinople this week will surely have them feeling confident going into this match. The derbies are always a different animal though. Olympiakos had outclassed Manchester United in 2014 and the very next game Panathinaikos thrashed them 0-3 in their very own home. Panathinaikos will be facing the injury bug and possibly the anxieties of poor performances away from home this time around though, so it will be important for them to keep a cool head going into the game.

 

I think that it is absolutely vital that Panathinaikos do not concede early, which is what has happened in the two losses against Giannina and Aris. Conceding early seems to be this team’s kryptonite and it ultimately dictated how they played the rest of the matches against the two aforementioned teams. It may be of best interest to disrupt Olympiakos’ build up play as that is the area I feel they have struggled with to start the season. This is where the inclusion of Alexandropoulos is so important. He gives Panathinaikos the energy needed in the midfield to try and knock Olympiakos off their game.

 

We have also seen that in the two games where Panathinaikos struggled, the opposing manager’s sought to mark Vital out of the match which essentially hindered any creativity or threat from the left flank. For Panathinaikos to play their game to the best of their ability Vital cannot be marked out of the game. On the right my hope is that Palacios will start, but Chatziovanis put in such a good performance last Sunday that it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see him get the nod either. Our midfield’s ability to feed the ball to one of the wingers quickly and get the ball to Carlitos will likely be our best bet at scoring since it has worked in the past in the derbies and also seems to have worked very well in our two huge wins this season.

 

All in all, I am expecting this derby to be just like all of the other ones. It is going to be fun, exciting, and possibly a bit nerve wracking at times for both sets of fans, but most importantly I want to see Panathinaikos go in there and play with some heart and passion. I don’t want to make a prediction for this match because you never ever know what might happen when these two giants collide. I very much want my team to grab all three points though, not just for bragging rights, but for us to build on something and qualify for Europe again. 

Let’s go PAO!  

Hellas Football 

Follow @PanathasLA