This Wednesday, SC Braga begins its participation in the Football Champions League play-offs, in which it will have to beat the Greeks Panathinaikos to access the group stage for the third time in its history.
After eliminating the Serbs from Backa Topola in the third qualifying round, with 3-0 wins at home and 4-1 away, the Minho team now faces the last hurdle to join Benfica and FC Porto in the main European club competition. , in which they were present in the 2010/11 and 2012/13 seasons.
If SC Braga has already played two games in the Portuguese I Liga, registering a defeat in their debut, against Famalicão, and a victory on Saturday, against Desportivo de Chaves, Panathinaikos has yet to play a duel in the Greek championship.
However, the Greeks have four official matches this season, all in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League: in the second qualifying round, they eliminated the Ukrainians from Dnipro (3-1 win, away, and 2-2 draw). , at home). ) and, in the third qualifying round, they beat Marseille, winning 1-0 in Greece and losing 2-1 in France, where they would finally get through on penalties.
SC Braga and Panathinaikos will play starting at 8:00 p.m. in Braga, in a match that will be led by the German Felix Zwayer. The second leg of the play-off is scheduled for August 29 in Athens.
Source: TSF
