Preview: Real Betis vs Panathinaikos - prediction, team news, lineups

Real Betis will welcome Panathinaikos to La Cartuja for Thursday's Europa League last-16 clash.

The Greek side carry a narrow lead into the second leg after claiming a 1-0 victory in last week's meeting in Athens.

Match preview

Betis are competing in the last 16 after finishing in fourth place in the league phase with five wins, two draws and just one defeat from their eight matches.

However, they fell to their second loss of the main draw in last week's first leg against Panathinaikos, leaving them with work to do if they are to keep their hopes alive of going deep into another European competition after finishing as the Conference League runners-up last term.

Los Verdiblancos followed that result with a 1-1 draw in Sunday's La Liga home clash against sixth-placed Celta Vigo, keeping them three points clear of the Galician side in the battle for fifth spot.

While they may have avoided defeat, the result made it five consecutive matches without a win since recording back-to-back victories over Atletico Madrid and Mallorca.

Having mustered just one goal in their last three outings, Betis need to rediscover their goalscoring touch if they are to remain in the hunt for their first European trophy.

The hosts can at least take confidence from the fact they have won each of their previous three Europa League home games against Lyon, Utrecht and Feyenoord.

© Imago / One Inch Productions

In contrast to Betis, Panathinaikos had to negotiate a knockout playoff round tie against Viktoria Plzen after they finished in 17th spot in the league phase.

The Greek giants drew both legs against Plzen before they held their nerve to win 4-3 in the subsequent penalty shootout in the Czech Republic.

Rafael Benitez's side will hope to avoid the lottery of penalties in Thursday's fixture, with the visitors boasting a slender advantage from a dramatic first leg that produced two red cards.

Anass Zaroury was dismissed for two bookable offences just shy of the hour mark, before Betis defender Diego Llorente gave away a late penalty that resulted in a second yellow card and allowed Vicente Taborda to win the game from the spot. 

Panathinaikos followed that successful result with a frustrating goalless draw in Sunday's Greek Super League clash with Panetolikos, although they at least extended their unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions.

While that run will give them confidence, Panathinaikos know they still have plenty of work to do to reach their first European quarter-final since the 2002-03 UEFA Cup, especially as they have lost 14 of their last 19 European meetings with Spanish opposition (W2, D3). 

Real Betis Europa League form:

Real Betis form (all competitions):

Panathinaikos Europa League form:

Panathinaikos form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago / IMAGO / Pressinphoto

Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini remains without the services of Giovani Lo Celso and Isco due to thigh and ankle injuries respectively. 

Llorente is suspended for Thursday’s fixture after being shown his first red card in a Betis shirt in the first leg in Greece.

Pellegrini is set to make a number of changes from the side that started against Celta, with Pau Lopez, Ricardo Rodriguez, Sergi Altimira and Antony all in contention to start the second leg.

As for the visitors, Zaroury will serve a one-match ban after being given his marching orders in last week’s first leg.

Panathinaikos are also expected to be without Giannis Kotsiras and Erik Palmer-Brown due to injury.

Moussa Sissoko, Tonny Vilhena, Adriano Jagusic, Pavlos Pantelidis and Lucas Chaves are not included in the Europa League squad and are therefore ineligible to feature. 

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Lopez; Ruibal, Bartra, Natan, Rodriguez; Roca, Altimira; Antony, Fornals, Abde; Cucho 

Panathinaikos possible starting lineup:

Lafont; Katris, Ingason, Touba; Calabria, Sanches, Gnezda Cerin, Kyriakopoulos; Pellistri, Taborda; Tetteh 

We say: Real Betis 2-0 Panathinaikos (Betis to win 2-1 on aggregate)

Betis may be playing at a temporary home while redevelopment work goes on at the Benito Villamarin, but they have made La Cartuja something of a fortress in Europe this season, and we think they will make full use of home advantage to turn the last-16 tie in their favour. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.