Panathinaikos Vs Barcelona
SOCCER-CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Panathinaikos host Barcelona on Wednesday in the first leg of the quarterfinals. The «greens» chase the dream of qualifying to the semis against the spanish giants and hope that they will make it with the support of their fans. The big match starts at 21.45 GR and will be covered minute by minute from Sportnews.gr.
Latest news:
Sergio Markarian said: «We know that Barcelona is a great team which belongs to the 5 or 6 best clubs of the world. They have great players, but so we do. We are going to fight with all our powers. Barcelona is not in good form and we would like to take advantage of that».
Markarians only selection headaches for Wednesdays big match are the suspension of Giorgos Karagounis and the injury doubt over Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Jan Michaelsen.
Charles Resach said: «Panathinaikos are very difficult opponents and people should not automatically presume we are in the semi-finals. But the squad is confident that we can progress and we are going to Athens to win. We know that the atmosphere will be very different from what we are used to and that it inspires Panathinaikos every time they play at home».
Rivaldo has been given the green light to return to the side after recovering from an ankle injury and coach Carles Rexach is also able to welcome Abelardo back into the centre of defence in place of Phillipe Christanval.
SOCCER: Socrates Kokkalis (president of Olympiakos): We want the sixth championship in a row to dedicate it to Andreas Mouratis.
BASKETBALL: Near East sharpshooter Yorgos Tsirigotakis, a member of Greeces 1995 World Championship-winning Junior team, was named Most Valuable Player of A1s matchday 24.
