Motherwell may be rich pickings

Football Writer

Saturday 28 July 2012

IT seems there is nowhere in Greece exempt from stringent austerity measures.

Striker Sebastien Leto, right, will miss out the matches with Motherwell through injury, but the likes of Loukas Vyntra will still pose a sizeable threat. Picture: EPA

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Graeme Macpherson

Certainly not their football clubs. At Panathinaikos they look at their Champions League qualifying tie against Motherwell and Euro signs appear in their eyes. The Athens club are mired in debt and the much-quoted £10m or so available to clubs who can reach the group stage of Europe's leading competition is seen as the easiest solution to all their money problems. Now all they need to do is get past Stuart McCall's side over two legs in the third qualifying round, and then the likes of Udinese, Lille or Malaga in the round beyond that, and they will be rolling in it.

The only problem with their fiendish masterplan, however, is that Panathinaikos aren't the side they once were. The club have been Super League champions only once in the past eight years and approach the new season with something of an ageing, depleted squad. Sotiris Ninis, the much-feted Greek international playmaker, is off to Parma, Damien Plessis, once of Liverpool, has signed for Arles in France, while the Brazilian Cleyton has joined Kayserispor in Turkey. Several others have been released as the club can no longer afford to pay their wages, while Argentinian forward Sebastian Leto is out until the end of the year after undergoing knee surgery. In their place have come a raft of mostly young, inexperienced players.There is little expectation in Greece that Panathinaikos will launch a serious threat to Olympiakos' domestic dominance in the season ahead meaning achieving success in Europe takes on extra significance. There is certainly no shortage of experienced figures to call upon. At the heart of their team are the veteran Greek internationalists Giorgios Karagounis, Kostas Katsouranis and Loukas Vyntra, while Jean-Alain Boumsong, the former Rangers defender, is entering his third season with the Athens club. Zeca, the Portuguese player, pulls the strings in midfield, while Ibrahim Sissoko, a recent loan arrival from Wolfsburg, is expected to bolster their forward line, likely to be led by Toche, the burly Spanish striker. They were dancing in the streets of Athens when the Champions League draw paired them with Motherwell. Most Greeks' knowledge of Scottish football barely stretches beyond Celtic and Rangers meaning it was unlikely any other side would be seen as a credible threat. Boumsong, though, who spent six months at Ibrox before being transferred to Newcastle United for £8m, warned against treating Motherwell as pushovers. "It will be two very difficult matches for us," he said. "I can assure our fans that the Scots are very passionate and will create problems for us. They are warriors but we have a good team and we can get a good result in the first game."Georgios Samaras gave a similar warning. The Celtic striker – whose father is a coach with Panathinaikos' youth academy – knows first-hand the threat Motherwell could pose. "If Panathinaikos underestimate Motherwell then they are going to pay," he said. "Motherwell is a very tough opponent."Samaras also singled out the players he feels would be key for Motherwell. "Panathinaikos should pay attention to Chris Humphrey and Adam Cummins," he said. "Cummins is just a young defender but he is a very good player. He was man of the match in their recent friendly against Everton."Manager Jesualdo Ferreira plans on studying footage of that game – Steven Hammell's testimonial – ahead of the first leg at Fir Park on Tuesday. The former Porto manager, however, already has a fair idea of what to expect. "They are a typical British team. They play passionately, don't give up at any point of the game and," he said.There have been major changes behind the scenes at the Athens club, too, with consortium Panathanaikkos Alliance last week taking charge. The consortium has already raised around £1.5m but is still some way short of what is needed to eradicate the club's sizeable debt. Champions League riches, therefore, would be very welcome.

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Motherwell may be rich pickings

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