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Fiorentina will face Panathinaikos at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Thursday in the second leg of their 2024-25 UEFA Europa Conference League last-16 clash. The home side have endured a difficult run of results over the past few weeks and are now on the verge of exiting the continental stage rather prematurely.
They Serie A outfit suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat in their first-leg clash in Greece last week, finding themselves two goals down less than 20 minutes after kick-off. They then came back to draw level in the first half following a quickfire double from Lucas Beltran and Nicolo Fagioli before their opponents reclaimed the lead in the second half.
Panathinaikos, meanwhile, are playing well at the moment and will head into the midweek clash with confidence. Efforts from Karol Swiderski, Nemanja Maksimovic and Tete last week helped secure a narrow advantage for Trifýlli which they will be looking to protect with at least a draw in Florence on Thursday.
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Should the visitors hold on to their advantage this week, they will advance to the quarterfinals of a major European competition for the first time since the 2002-03 season when they appeared in the Europa League quarterfinals.
Fiorentina vs Panathinaikos Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Thursday's game will mark just the second meeting between Fiorentina and Panathinaikos following their maiden matchup last week.
- The hosts have had seven competitive meetings against Greek opposition. They have won just one of those games, drawn three times and lost the other threee.
- The visitors have had 23 meetings against Italian opponents in European competitions. They have won seven of those games, drawn six times and lost the other 10.
- Fiorentina have scored 20 goals in the Conference League this season. Only Chelsea (28) have scored more.
Fiorentina vs Panathinaikos Prediction
The Viola are on a run of back-to-back defeats and have lost five of their last six matches. They have, however, lost just one of their last five home games and will be hopeful of overturning their first-leg deficit on Thursday.
Panathinaikos, meanwhile, have won two of their last three matches and four of their last six. They showed their defensive frailties last time out which could be exploited by their much stronger opponents this week.
Prediction: Fiorentina 3-1 Panathinaikos
Fiorentina vs Panathinaikos Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Fiorentina to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in five of the visitors' last seven matches)
Tip 3 - Fiorentina to concede first: YES (I Viola have conceded the opening goal in five of their last six outings)
