The past week has been the first time in a long time that the Double-headed Eagle squad have had the luxury to have a full week to prepare for a match without other commitments. The final training session took place on Saturday (19.12) at the Toumba.

The coaching team, as per usual, opted to put the player through their paces on the tactical front and the approach they want to see against Panathinaikos, so that the team can fine tune the final details before kick-off. And so, the program was focused on attacking build-up play, transition work, and set-pieces.

Fernando Varela continued to receive treatment on his back injury and is out of contention for Sunday, as is Rodrigo Souares, who has departed for Brazil on special leave. The player has received guidance from the club physiotherapists and the medical team to continue his recovery program in his homeland.

Wague and Mihaj are also still sidelined. The Senegalese is now in Barcelona and will have a first operation to repair the damage to his patellar tendon. After surgery, he will begin a course of treatment that will determine when he will undergo a follow-up second operation to the injury he sustained in the match with Aris.

The coaching staff have selected the following squad for the match against Panathinaikos at the Toumba:

Paschalakis, Zivkovic, Vieirinha, Lyratzis, Ingason, Crespo, Michailidis, Giannoulis, Pereira, Esiti, Tsiggaras, Douglas, Ninua, El Kaddouri, Schwab, Murg, A. Zivkovic, Tziolis, Swiderski, Colak, Koutsias.