Panathinaikos v Braga

Panathinaikos vs Braga Preview

We've reached the 'pointy end' of the qualifying stage of this season's Champions League as teams battle it out for a place in the financially lucrative group stage and Tuesday night features this upcoming clash between Greek hosts, Panathinaikos, and their Portuguese counterparts, Braga, in this 2nd leg of their play-off tie.

Panathinaikos find themselves chasing down a one-goal deficit following last week's 1st leg 2-1 defeat in Portugal to Sporting Braga but the Greek hosts now return to the more familiar surroundings of their Stadio Apóstolos Nikolaidis where they will be looking to make the most of home advantage and vocal support to get them over the line here.

Overall form has been pretty reasonable where Panathinaikos have been concerned as the hosts have lost just twice in their last 14 matches in all competitions including last week's 2-1 defeat at Braga but the Greek side have also collected nine wins during this period as well which gives them a decent chance of recording a positive result here on Tuesday night.

Goals for both teams could also feature as six out of Panathinaikos' last 10 matches in all competitions have resulted in both teams hitting the back of the net as well.

Sporting Braga have produced some impressive displays in recent weeks as the Portuguese visitors have suffered just the one defeat out of their last 11 matches in all competitions which includes picking up nine wins in the process.

Within this impressive collection of recent victories, Sporting Braga registered a comprehensive 7-1 victory on aggregate against Serbian outfit Baka Topola, in the previous qualifying round of this season's Champions League which saw them sailing through to this play-off stage.

A rousing 4-1 win away from home in the 2nd leg against Baka Topoloa was further complemented by back-to-back wins against Chaves in the domestic Primeira Liga along with last week's 2-1 home win against Tuesday night's opponents, Panathinaikos, while six of Braga's last 10 away games have also seen both teams score.

Therefore, Braga look to hold a serious threat in the final third against Panathinaikos in this return leg with the visitors also looking likely goalscorers in what could be another entertaining tie between these two teams at the Stadio Apóstolos Nikolaidis.

Panathinaikos v Braga Verdict

Panathinaikos know they must approach this decisive leg in an assertive manner as the hosts look to not only draw level in this tie but to also win on the night in order for the Greek outfit to reach the group stage of this season's competition.

An attacking approach from Panathinaikos may well leave the hosts exposed at the back though and Sporting Braga are more than capable of exploiting any weaknesses that the hosts may display in this clash, making it pretty likely that both teams will score here.

Therefore, our main bet will be Both Teams To Score Yes @ 1.72

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.50

Correct score: 1-1 @ 7.00