Rangers vs Panathinaikos: UCL Match Preview, Odds & Predictions

In Tuesday night's first leg of their Champions League second qualifying round match against Panathinaikos, Rangers will be looking to take advantage of home-field advantage.

Panathinaikos finished second in the Greek Super League last season, while Rangers qualified for this round of the Champions League by finishing second in the Scottish Premiership the previous term.

Previous Matches and Head to Head

Last season, Rangers failed once again to win Scotland's top division, finishing in second place, 17 points behind winner Celtic, who are now in the Champions League knockout phase. Celtic have not won the league since the 2020-21 season.

However, to advance to the league round, the Gers must first survive the Champions League's preliminary stages, where they will face tough competition from Panathinaikos.

In a solitary summer friendly, on July 6, Russell Martin's squad tied Club Brugge 2-2. In a third friendly, between their two matches against Panathinaikos, they will face Middlesbrough.

On August 2, Rangers will face Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership opener. The club won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1972.

During the summer transfer window, the Scottish giants were very busy, bringing in eight new players (including Oscar Cortes from Lens) and letting five players go on free transfers.

While Panathinaikos has won the Greek championship 20 times, it has not won the title since 2010. Last season, they finished in second place, which qualified them for the Champions League's second qualifying round.

After reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 1985 and 1986 and losing to Ajax in the final, the Greens ended as runners-up in 1971. They also reached the quarterfinals in 1992 and 2002.

Although Rui Vitoria's squad competed in the Conference League last year and advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to Fiorentina, they haven't been in the Champions League since 2011.

Among the four players brought in by Panathinaikos this summer, the most famous is Pedro Chirivella, who left Nantes for the club.

The 2025–26 season will see a revitalised squad thanks to seven departures; the team will be fired up to beat Scotland in the first leg of their European matchup before facing Greece in the return leg on July 30.

Rangers vs Panathinaikos Team News

Liam Kelly, rather than Jack Butland, may start in goal for the Rangers on Tuesday night, as manager Martin faces a major goalkeeping dilemma.

After joining on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nasser Djiga is likely to make his debut, while Kieran Dowell might get the nod after a productive loan stint with Birmingham City.

Because Cyriel Dessers is supposedly being linked with a transfer away from Rangers, Danilo will probably start in the middle for the club. Unfortunately, Rabbi Matondo will be unable to play due to an injury.

Chirivella, Georgios Kyriakopoulos, Ahmed Touba, and Alban Lafont are all set to make their Panathinaikos debuts after joining the club in the summer.

The visiting team's starting lineup included Tete, Filip Djuricic, and Fotis Ioannidis, all of whom had stellar 2024–25 seasons, scoring 11 goals each.

Our Predictions

Rangers to win @ 1.86 on Sky247.ng

Panathinaikos is a sophisticated team; thus, it's hard for us to confidently choose a victor between the two halves of this match.  However, Rangers should be able to take the lead in the opening leg of their European match thanks to playing at home.

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