ACF Fiorentina vs. Panathinaikos F.C. Prediction on March 13, 2025

Match info

On Thursday night (March 13 at 9 p.m. local time), ACF Fiorentina and Panathinaikos F.C. will play the eagerly awaited second leg of the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League – Round of 16 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, Italy. In a thrilling five-goal match, the Greeks prevailed by one in the first leg, and the finalists of the previous two editions of the third tier of Europe’s men’s football club competitions might be eliminated early.

Whoever advances will be the heavy favorite to face either Celje or Lugano in the Quarter-finals. Given that both Fiorentina and Panathinaikos have a strong incentive to win this competition, it’s undoubtedly an advantageous fact that on their run to the final they won’t face clear title favorites by the odds of online platforms for European betting, Chelsea, until the title match.

Meeting statistics

The current form of ACF Fiorentina

If Matías Moreno’s late first-half goal hadn’t been disallowed by VAR, Raffaele Palladino’s team might have won the first leg against Panathinaikos. However, shortly after the break, Tetê won the game for the home team. “Viola” (The Purples) will be hoping that this season will be their third time lucky in the Conference League after losing to West Ham in Prague in 2023 and Olympiacos last year in Athens.

Due to the beneficial run they would have if they completed the turnaround here, Fiorentina are favored by bookmakers in the rematch and are still third favorites to win the competition. This is despite the first-leg loss. Fiorentina have faced hardship on numerous occasions in this Conference League, including when a determined Lech Poznań team nearly shocked them on their run to the final in 2023, when they also needed a goal from Antonín Barák in the 130th minute to defeat Basel in the Semi-finals. Palladino’s team handled the League phase with little fuss, taking 13 points from a possible 18 and finishing third, with the draw being just slightly unfortunate for them.

A one-goal deficit won’t deter the hosts here because Fiorentina also won close games against Maccabi Haifa and Club Brugge last season, which at times looked like they would lose. Even though they lost 1-2 to championship contenders Napoli over the weekend, they fought hard. However, that was their fifth loss in six games, which sent them down to eighth place in the Serie A Enilive rankings. Given that a top-six finish could be necessary to qualify for Europe, “Viola” is now five points behind. After this match in Europe, Palladino’s team must advance to salvage their season because they have difficult tests against Juventus, Atalanta, and Milan coming up in their next three games.

The current form of Panathinaikos F.C.

Panathinaikos had to watch their archrivals Olympiacos win the Conference League the previous season, wherein they defeated Fiorentina in the final. “Prássinoi” (The Greens) will try to hamper the big favorite now.

The Greek team has also seen a good deal of turmoil on the continent this season. Before earning just 10 points in the League phase and advancing to the playoffs, when they faced debutants Víkingur and completely made a mess out of the duel, Rui Vitória’s team had already had to defeat Lens in Qualifying rounds. After falling behind 0-2 in the first leg, Panathinaikos needed a last-minute comeback to defeat the Icelandic team. This outcome has been indicative of their performance thus far in 2025.

The first-leg victory over Fiorentina was somewhat of an anomaly because Olympiacos had already eliminated them from the domestic cup and are 10 points ahead of them at the top of the rankings, while Lamia, who were at the bottom of the table, had surprised them at the end of last month.

Head-to-head

The first leg of this season’s Conference League was the first-ever head-to-head between the two sides.

Match analytics

Fiorentina will be confident in their ability to turn the tables here because they have fought back in numerous European matches over the last three years and are skilled at winning in this competition. After flattering to deceive against Víkingur in the previous round, Panathinaikos have lost four of their last nine games and was held to a 1-1 draw by Atromitos in the league with a strong XI over the weekend, indicating that a lack of consistency could be their downfall here.

Tip: Will win by 2 or 3 goals – Yes – Fiorentina, with odds 2.95 on ZENBET.