Dnipro-1 take on the visitors Panathinaikos in the first leg of UEFA Champions League qualification quarterfinals. The match will be played on Tuesday, July 25th at Kosicka futbalova arena (Košice).
Dnipro-1 are making its debut at this level. The Yellow-Blacks emerged because the local oligarch, Igor Kolomoisky, lost interest (and consequently cut off funding) in the previous club, which once won the cup even during the Soviet era and reached the final of the UEFA Europa League under coach Myron Markevych. Formally, there is no connection between the teams, but one can compare their squads. Leveraging their competent personnel, the newly-formed team quickly ascended to the Ukrainian Premier League. In the penultimate season, under coach Ivan Jovanovic, they secured a 3rd place finish. Subsequently, Igor left for Shakhtar, and Dnipro-1 narrowly missed out on the top spot in the Ukrainian Premier League under the guidance of Oleksandr Kucher, giving the Miners a tough fight for the 1st place. In the end, they finished as the runners-up, with Dynamo Kyiv far behind. Interestingly, they simultaneously made their debut in European competitions and performed relatively well, securing a 3rd place finish in their UEFA Europa League group. However, they suffered defeats twice against AEK Larnaca. First, they were eliminated by the Cypriots in the Europa League qualifiers, and then, in 2023, they were defeated in the Conference League playoffs.
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
Panathinaikos are now returning to the Champions League, at least in the qualification stage. The Clover is a legendary club that reached the European Cup final back in 1971. It has also won the domestic championship 20 times. However, their last league title was achieved in 2010. Since then, they slipped to the 2nd position and only occasionally made their presence felt in the domestic cup, which they won in 2022. Even the successful Olympiacos experienced a crisis during that time. There were hopes that they could return to the top spot this time, and they did well in the regular season, finishing as leaders. However, they were edged out in the championship playoffs by their rivals AEK. Nevertheless, securing the 2nd position was a breakthrough, and it's no surprise that they are strengthening their squad for the return to the Champions League. Their coach, Jovanovic, who started his career in the former Yugoslavia, mainly relies on compatriots - Djuricic, Edouard, Mladenovic, in addition to the acquisition of Villena and the return of Zeca.
Of course, in their current form, Dnipro-1 will play against the Greeks for the first time. The pair seems quite evenly matched in strength. Moreover, this is only the first match, where nothing will be decided yet. Let's bet on the total goals being under 2.5.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
