Vilhena loses with Panathinaikos in CL play-offs, Galatasaray wins at the last minute | Football

23 Aug 2023 at 23:05

Tonny Vilhena and Bart Schenkeveld suffered a defeat in the play-offs of the Champions League with Panathinaikos on Wednesday. The Dutch lost with their Greek boss 2-1 on a visit to Sporting Braga. Galatasaray won at the last minute.

The opening goal came off the foot of striker Abel Ruiz, who fired the ball into the bottom left corner after 51 minutes of play. Álvaro Djaló doubled the lead sixteen minutes before the end, after which Daniel Mancini made it 2-1 in stoppage time. As a result, a tough job awaits Vilhena and Schenkeveld in the return next week to reach the main tournament of the Champions League.

Vilhena has been playing for Panathinaikos since this season. After his departure from Feyenoord in the summer of 2019, he ended up in Athens via FC Krasnodar, Espanyol and Salernitana. There he met former Feyenoord and PEC player Schenkeveld, who is in his fifth season in Greek service. Panathinaikos surprisingly eliminated Olympique Marseille in the third preliminary round.

Galatasaray did good business on a visit to the Norwegian Molde FK towards next week’s return. The Turkish top club seemed to get no further than a 2-2 draw, but thanks to former AZ player Fredrik Midtsjø, it still won 2-3 in injury time. Galatasaray soon fell 1-0 down, but recovered thanks to goals from Sérgio Oliveira and Mauro Icardi. Eirik Haugan made it 2-2, after which the Turks took the win after all.

The visitors included former Eredivisie players Angeliño and Dries Mertens in the starting line-up. Hakim Ziyech was still missing. The thirty-year-old midfielder came over from Chelsea last week, where he had little prospect of playing time.

Captain Chery draws with Maccabi Haifa

Tjaronn Chery and Maccabi Haifa failed to win at home against the Swiss Young Boys. Both teams had few opportunities in the Sammy Ofer stadium. So there was no scoring. As a result, the tension remains high for the return in Bern next week.

Chery, former player of ADO and FC Groningen, among others, is captain at the Israeli club. The midfielder is aiming for the second consecutive participation in the Champions League group stage with his team. Last season, the eleven-time Israeli champion took three points in a group with Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica and Juventus.

Champions League play-off results

Tuesday

Rakow Czestochowa-FC Copenhagen 0-1 Rangers FC-PSV 2-2 Royal Antwerp FC-AEK Athene 1-0

Wednesday

Braga-Panathinaikos 2-1 Maccabi Haifa-Young Boys 0-0 Molde FK-Galatasaray 2-3

Beeld: Getty Images

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panathinaikosChampions LeagueGalatasarayTonny VilhenaVoetbal

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