Panathinaikos 1 - Deportivo 1

Deportivo: Molina; Manuel Pablo, Naybet, Donato, Romero; Víctor (Scaloni 80'), Mauro Silva, Emerson (Valerón 70'), Fran; Pandiani, Diego Tristán (César Sampaio 85'). 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 30. Warzycha. Crossed shot which beat Molina.
1-1. 84. Naybet. Ran on to overhead pass from Pandiani and shot wide of keeper.

Deportivo forced a valuable draw in the inferno of the Athens Olympic stadium on their Champions League debut. Moroccan international defender was the man who made the difference, scoring the equalizing goal with only a few minutes left in the match after a spectacular overhead pass from Pandiani. Earlier Panathinaikos had taken the lead after dominating most of the first half, Poland's Warzycha taking advantage of a defensive mistake to beat Molina with a shot across goal. Up to that point Molina and his back four had resisted the flood, with the keeper saving from Paulo Sousa and Warzycha amongst others. Nikopolodis in the Greek goal had also to earn his pay, and he produced saves from Tristán and Víctor in their rare attacks before the break. The pressure from Panathinaikos continued on into the second half, with the Depor keeper keeping his side in the game. Irureta decided a change was needed, and he brought on Valerón in place to Emerson to give added support to his front two. Valerón's first contribution was a rasping shot at goal, and as the visitors got back in the game, first Pandiani and then substitute Scaloni gave warning shots across the bows of the Greek goal. Then up came Naybet to score his first goal in two years, and Deportivo had their first point. The result rounded off a good week for the Spaniards in the Champions League, with two home wins and two away draws, and it looks as if they will be carrying on where they left off last year. Just another 16 games to go...