Champions League Qual.: Panathinaikos – Rangers 30/07/2025

Betting on goals

Having got everything right in my first leg prediction of this game, a 2-0 win to Rangers, I thought I might try my hand at the sequel! While Rangers will travel to Greece full of confidence on Wednesday night with that handy 2-goal lead, it is worth remembering just how poor they have been on the road in the past! The partisan home crowd will make this a tough tie for them despite that commanding 2 goal cushion, and it is not going to be a walk in the park; an early goal for Panathinaikos will start nerves jangling.

Rangers manager Russell Martin will want to continue the fine form he started with in his new job, and he has the experience to get his side properly prepared. We all know that strange things can happen in second-leg matches, and I am expecting goals and action as Panathinaikos will need to attack whilst Rangers will look to hit them on the counter. Cyriel Dessers or Hamza Igamane are my pick for first goalscorer on the Rangers side, while main striker Fotis Ioannidis is the main hope for the Greeks to get back into it. So, if you fancy them scoring first, then maybe have a look at him.

However, I am confident Rangers will navigate the tie and make sure they make the next stage of qualifying, and that is the focus of my bet here: Rangers to qualify by any method would be the smart money, but the odds don’t make it worthwhile. I’m going for both teams to score in the 90 minutes. There will be goals in this with both teams needing to go for it, and if Rangers do score I can’t see them not getting through.