UECL | Panathinaikos 3-2 Fiorentina: Viola fall again in Athens

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·6 marzo 2025

UECL | Panathinaikos 3-2 Fiorentina: Viola fall again in Athens

Fiorentina have it all to do in the Conference League Round of 16 after a chaotic 3-2 first leg defeat away to Panathinaikos, despite scoring twice in three minutes.

The Viola had Moise Kean back after he was given the all-clear for a head injury, but missed Yacine Adli, Michael Folorunsho and Andrea Colpani for the first return to Athens since losing the 2024 Conference League Final to Olympiakos. The hosts had ex-Fiorentina goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski and former Sassuolo striker Filip Djuricic in the side, but Tin Jedvaj, Tasos Bakasetas, Erik Palmer-Brown and Facundo Pellistri were not fully fit.

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See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Panathinaikos took a very early lead with a move that followed a series of passes that the Viola did not close down effectively, concluding with a Djuricic through ball that Nemanja Maksimovic laid off for the first-time left-foot Karol Swiderski sweep into the top corner from just inside the box. He too was a familiar face after his brief stay at Verona.

Luca Ranieri’s header looped onto the roof of the net from a corner, but Panathinaikos doubled their lead when Pietro Terracciano horribly spilled a fairly simple Djuricic effort into the path of Maksimovic.

However, Fiorentina got one back within 60 seconds, Lucas Beltran nodding in the Robin Gosens cross from six yards.

Nicolò Fagioli squirmed between two to curl wide, then incredibly completed the comeback within three minutes in Athens.

epa11945117 Fiorentina’s Lucas Beltran celebrates scoring the 2-1 during the UEFA Conference League Round of 16, 1st leg soccer martch between Panathinaikos Athens and Fiorentina, at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, 06 March 2025. EPA-EFE/GEORGIA PANAGOPOULOU

Gosens was involved again with the assist, volleying down the ball over the top for Fagioli’s finish from 12 yards, a deflection off Willian Arao wrong-footing Dragowski at the near bottom corner.

Giannis Kotsiris limped off after slipping and spraining his ankle, while Kean nodded a Dodo cross over and Rolando Mandragora’s attempt hit his teammate.

Fiorentina thought they had turned it around completely on 44 minutes when a corner was cleared as far as Mandragora to sweep it back in, Pietro Comuzzo’s header came off the upright and Matias Moreno was quickest to tap in the rebound. However, it was disallowed by VAR for Moreno’s offside.

After the restart, Dodo made a decisive interception as Djuricic was pulling the trigger on a volley, but Panathinaikos restored their advantage as Djuricic rolled across from the left for Tetê to swing the left boot from just inside the box into the near bottom corner.

Dragowski smothered Ranieri’s header from a corner, while Terracciano palmed a dangerous Azzedine Ounahi solo effort over the bar and Kean couldn’t quite get his head to Fabiano Parisi’s assist.

Former Sassuolo player Djuricic almost got a fourth on 83 minutes, cutting inside Danilo Cataldi for a curler that bounced off the inside of the far post.