Tue Feb 19 18:56:30 2008

Comment | Email | Print

Rangers face battle in Athens against Panathinaikos

---

Athens, Greece (Sports Network) - Rangers visit Panathinaikos on Thursday for the second leg of their UEFA Cup round-of-32 clash trying to avoid being one of the Champions League additions to falter in the first knockout round.

Rangers is one of eight teams that finished third in the Champions group stage and moved into the UEFA Cup for the start of the knockout stage.

Only two Champions League teams - Rosenborg and Slavia Prague - lost first-leg matches last week, but the situation isn't much better for Rangers.

Rangers, which leads the Scottish Premier League, walked away from Ibrox after a 0-0 draw facing a must-win trip to Athens against Greek power Panathinaikos.

"We will need to be at our best to win," Rangers coach Kenny McDowall said on the team's website.

Although Rangers don't face the challenge fellow Scottish club Celtic does in a Champions League series against Barcelona, they will have their hands full.

"The UEFA Cup perhaps isn't held in the same regard as the Champions League," McDowall said, "but anyone involved in it will tell you differently."

Panathinaikos, which is second in Greek's top division with 14 wins and just a pair of losses in 20 matches this season, is unbeaten in 10 league home games.

Rangers, who are an impressive 12-1-0 at home in league games, has struggled a little on the road with a 7-2-2 mark in league play.

The good news for Rangers is that one Kris Boyd goal - he leads the team with 10 in league play - could be the difference. If Rangers can get a crucial away goal, Panathinaikos could be making the early exit.

Rosenborg also faces a challenge when it visits Fiorentina, which captured the first leg 1-0.

Slavia Prague is also in a tough position after allowing two away goals in its first-leg loss to Tottenham, 2-1.

The other five clubs that moved in from the Champions League are in good shape entering the second-leg matches. Marseille and Werder Bremen each won 3-0, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Lisbon both won 2-0 and Benfica won 1-0 - but all those teams did play at home last week.

Marseille visits Spartak Moscow, Werder Bremen visits Braga, PSV Eindhoven visits Helsingborg, Sporting Lisbon visits Basle and Benfica visits Nurnberg.

Among the teams that advanced through the group stage of the UEFA Cup, Bayern Munich and Villarreal were considered the top challengers to raise the trophy but both struggled last week.

Bayern Munich rallied from two deficits to draw Aberdeen, 2-2, and Villarreal lost to Zenit St. Petersburg, 1-0. Both teams have the luxury of playing the second leg at home.

Thursday's other matches are: FC Zurich visits Hamburg trailing 3-1, Brann is down 2-0 and visits Everton, Anderlecht visits Bordeaux up 2-1, Bolton visits Atletico Madrid up 1-0, Getafe hosts AEK Athens after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, and Galatasaray visits Bayer Leverkusen to break a 0-0 tie.