Preview: AS Roma Visits Panathinaikos in Europa League Knockout Stage

ATHENS (Interstat) — AS Roma’s European campaign continues Thursday with a trip to Greece to face Panathinaikos in the Europa League round of 32.

The match at Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium pits the Italian Serie A side against a Panathinaikos team that has proven resilient at home in continental play this season.

Roma arrives after a mixed run of domestic results. In their most recent outing, they drew 1-1 with AC Milan on Sunday. Their form, however, shows defensive solidity in key matches, having kept clean sheets in wins over VfB Stuttgart (2-0) and Sassuolo (2-0) earlier in January. The club’s schedule shows a heavy emphasis on youth league matches following this fixture, with their next senior Serie A contest not until a visit to Udinese on Monday.

Panathinaikos, the Greek Super League representatives, are unbeaten in their last three European home matches (2-0-1). They advanced to this stage following a 1-1 draw with Ferencvárosi TC in their previous Europa League outing on Jan. 22. Their home European results this season include a 2-1 victory over SK Sturm Graz and a 0-0 draw with Viktoria Plzen.

The historical matchup favors the Italian club. In their only previous European meetings, a two-legged tie in the 2009-10 Europa League round of 32, Roma advanced after a 2-3 away loss was followed by a 3-2 home victory, progressing on the away goals rule.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, Thursday’s contest is projected to be a narrow, defensive affair, with a predicted final score of 1-0 in favor of the visiting Roma.

The winner of the two-legged tie will advance to the Europa League round of 16, with the return leg scheduled at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico next week.

Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.