Europa League
With a fire trio at the top, Panathinaikos is aiming for a return to the knockout rounds after 14 years
Panathinaikos welcomes Maccabi and aims to ensure its presence in the knockout phase of a European competition for the first time in 14 years.
Many years have passed – too many for a club and an organization with the size and historical “weight” of Panathinaikos – since the Greens last took part in the knockout phase of the European Cups.
It was in February and March 2010, a few months before winning the last league title (which later became a double), when Panathinaikos defeated Roma in two historic games with two 3-2 victories and an unrepeatable performance from Djibril Cisse and Sotiris Nini , which was then eliminated in the “16” of the Europa League against Standard Liège with two defeats (1:3 and 0:1).
Since then, the “cloverleaf” has been through a lot, a lot, it has endured, it has been reborn from its ashes, it has embarked on a “return course”. And it is precisely this “return” process that he wants to confirm this evening ((December 14th, 7:45 p.m., COSMOTE SPORT 3 HD, MatchCenter Sportish) in the sold-out house “Apostolos Nikolaidis” in his own “final” with Maccabi Haifa, on the 6th and final matchday of this year’s Europa League groups, with the price of the ticket for the playoff entry into the “16” the Europa Conference League. He returned to the knockout stages of a European competition for the first time in 14 years.
Based on what has happened in the group so far, the “Cloverleaf” is happy even with a draw to take 3rd place and in the draw next Monday (18/12) at the House of European Football, UEFA headquarters in Nyon to be there again.
However, the approach of all Panathinaikos is very different and the goal is only victory. “We never started with the mindset that we could defend the score or play for a result that suits us. That’s not our style, it’s not my style and the way I communicate with the players. We have to set standards for ourselves. “For teams like Panathinaikos, it’s completely normal to win.” Ivan Yovanovitch spoke clearly about his thoughts on today’s game.
“We are not looking for two results, but for one. We must honor the shamrock we wear. All games are about winning and not about drawing. That’s what we’re going to do now.” Giorgos Vagiannidis emphasized a little earlier and referred to his coach’s praising comment.
Exactly in the “spirit” that all Panathinaikos should have in today’s game (December 14th), against a very tough and in recent years much more experienced opponent in Europe, who came to Athens to… sell his Torium With patience demanding victory and qualification from his side.
A position is “played out” in the lineup.
Jovanovic will not be available for tonight’s game, as well as Hordur Magnusson and Erik Palmer-Brown being permanently absent) and Filip Djuricic, who is suffering from calf swelling and is out.
Regarding the XI, it appears to be largely settled, with the only ‘open’ position being the ‘8’ alongside Willian Arao, claimed by Adam Cerin and Toni Villena, with the Slovenian the favorite. Alberto Brignoli is expected to return under the goalposts having suffered minor discomfort in recent days, but barring any shocking prospects he will be given a starting jersey. The defensive quartet consists of Giorgos Vagiannidis and Juancar (who returns to the eleven) on the wings and Bart Schenkefeld and Tin Gedvai in the stopper positions.
Bernard Duarte will start in the “10” ahead of the duo in the center line, while the in-form Sebastian Palasios and Aitor will take their place on the “wings” and Fotis Ioannidis at the front.
From there, Panathinaikos’ squad for tonight’s (December 14) game against Maccabi Haifa is completed by Lodingin, Xenopoulos, Kotsiras, Huancar, Sideras, Ruben, Mancini, Sporar, Bilal and Prodromitis.
37-year-old Bulgarian Georgi Kabakov was named referee of the match by UEFA. His assistants will be compatriots Martin Margaritov, Diyan Valkov, 4. Radoslav Gizenov and in VAR Dagomir Draganov, Ivailo Stoyanov.
Source: sport 24
I have been working as a sports journalist for about 6 years now. I currently work as an author at Sportish, which is a sports news website. I mainly cover sports news and I love writing about all aspects of the sport. I also have experience working as a broadcast journalist, so I have some great insights into how sport is reported and presented.
Europa League
Poland took the lead. Who is competing for an additional place in the Champions League?
The two countries with the highest UEFA coefficient at the end of a season will gain an additional entry. Champions League 2026/27.
Like last year, 36 clubs will compete in the main stage of the European Cup main tournament. Two of these will be determined by rating.
All important moments of the match are available in LIVE mode Telegram Sport.ua
The two best-ranked countries in the 2025/26 season will each send one more team to the 2026/27 Champions League.
Next single season rankings:
- P.Olsha (13,625), England (13,486), Germany (12,285), Cyprus (11,406), Italy (11,250), Spain (11,218), France (10,714), Portugal (10,600), Greece (9,500), Denmark (9,500)
The top two countries on this list will be given an additional place in the 2026/27 Champions League.
Leadership Poland It’s about getting bonuses in the Conference League. Three Polish clubs reached the LK play-offs at the same time: Rakow, Lech and Jagiellonia. And only Legia Warsaw withdrew from the tournament.
Ukrainian It ranks 15th among 55 countries in the UEFA single season rankings with 6,812. Shakhtar Donetsk advanced directly to the 1/8 finals of the Conference League and Dynamo Kiev was eliminated from the tournament.
UEFA coefficient For national associations, it is calculated based on the total number of points scored by all clubs in the country. 2 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and bonus points are also taken into account. Points received in the qualifying rounds are multiplied by 0.5 times. The total amount is divided by the number of teams representing the country in the European Cup season.
Race for two additional places in the 2026/27 Champions League (top 10)
Top 15 countries in the UEFA rankings for the 2025/26 season
UEFA five-year rankings
Source: Sport UA
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
english team Aston VillaThe player continues to show incredible form and has already won his 10th consecutive victory in different tournaments.
The successful series includes 7 Premier League matches and 3 Europa League matches. This is a new club record for Aston Villa.
The last win came on 21 December, when the home team beat Manchester United 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham.
This winning streak has allowed Aston Villa to secure a place in the top 3 (36 points) of the Premier League standings, ahead of Arsenal (39) and Man City (37).
In the Europa League, Unai Emery’s team safely passed the league stage and entered the top 3 together with Lyon and Mittjylland (15 points out of 18).
Aston Villa’s 10-match winning streak
- 21.12. 19:30. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Manchester United – 2:1
- 14.12. 16:00. nuclear submarine West Ham – Aston Villa – 2:3
- 11.12. 22:00. LE. Basel-Aston Villa-1:2
- 06.12. 14:30. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Arsenal – 2:1
- 03.12. 21:30. nuclear submarine Brighton – Aston Villa – 3:4
- 30.11. 16:05. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Wolverhampton – 1:0
- 27.11. 19:45. LE. Aston Villa – Young Men – 2:1
- 23.11. 16:00. nuclear submarine Leeds – Aston Villa – 1:2
- 09.11. 16:00. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Bournemouth – 4:0
- 06.11. 22:00. LE. Aston Villa – Maccabi Tel Aviv – 2:0
Aston Villa’s winning streak in the 2025/26 season
Source: Sport UA
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
Ukrainian defender Nottingham Forest Alexander Zinchenko He shared his feelings after his team beat Utrecht (2:1) in the main round of the Europa League.
“It’s a great feeling. First of all, I’m back. Secondly, it’s an incredible feeling to win a match. Getting three points today was very important for us. As you can see, it was a difficult match. But at the end of the match, I think we got what we wanted and let’s continue like that.”
“As a defender you always want to keep a clean sheet, but unfortunately we couldn’t do that today. So it’s something we need to work on in the future.”
“This is one of those matches where whoever wins the most challenges in different areas of the field will win the match. Today we won many more goals which helped us a lot in the game. But to be honest, even the opportunities we created, including me, we should have scored and finished this match earlier,” said Zinchenko.
Nottingham Forest is in 11th place in the rankings with 11 points after 6 matches in the Europa League this season.
Source: Sport UA
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
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