After a superb opening to the Champions League qualifying round last week, the competition carries on this week with four matches on Tuesday, as club’s look to take their final chance to seal a place in Europe’s most lucrative club competition.
The most eye catching tie sees Danish side Odense BK travel to face Greek giants Panathinaikos with the tie evenly balanced at 1-1, after a hotly contested first leg in Denmark.
The game will be staged in the Olympic Stadium (Panathinaikos 4/6, Draw 5/2, Odense 10/3 – Match Betting) and the home side will be looking to use the intimidating atmosphere often created by their raucous fans to their advantage, as they attempt to qualify for the competition they finished runners-up in 1971.
Panathinaikos managed to reach the last 16 in the 2008-09 season and have Champions League pedigree, but have never really fulfilled their potential on the big stage. The Greek Champions (Panathinaikos/Panathinaikos 6/4 – HT/FT Betting) have a number of names that maybe familiar to English fans and lookout for, amongst others, former Liverpool winger Sebastian Leto. The Argentine arrived at Anfield as a youngster but never really adapted to life in the North West. However, he has excelled in Greece and after scoring his side’s goal in the first leg, will be looking for a big performance in the match to show he can do it on the big stage.
However, Panathinaikos’ main man is Greek youngster Sotiris Ninis who on his day can trouble any defence in Europe. The winger has long been touted as the future of Greek football and has been linked with a number of top clubs in the past, with Inter Milan reportedly tracking his progress. Ninis has the ability to unlock any defence and like Leto, maybe looking at the match as a springboard to bigger things.
Panathinaikos may have young talent, but Odense are also a club on the up although they have created a reputation for themselves as the nearly side, after finishing runners-up in the league in the last three seasons. They’ll be hoping the curse doesn’t strike again and will be looking to get off to a fast start in what could be the biggest game of their season.
Henrik Clausen’s side will be looking to their star man Peter Utaka, brother of former Porstmouth man John, to fire them through. Utaka is another man that Premier League clubs have been looking at and he will be hoping to make an impact on the game after a quiet first leg.
Another name English fans may notice is that of former Manchester United midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba. The Cameroon international was billed as the next Roy Keane when he arrived at Old Trafford in 2003, but his career hasn’t quite turned out as planned and he has become somewhat of a journeyman. However, on his day he still has the tenacity and talent to dominate games and could be a key man if selected.
Odense will have high hopes ahead of the game and you never quite know what you’re going to get from Panathinaikos (13/2 – 2-0 Correct Score Betting). However, the Greek side should have more than enough to come through and will be looking to lay down a marker for the group stages by putting in a strong performance on Tuesday.
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.