Panevezys are set to host Jagiellonia Bialystok at the Aukstaitijos stadionas on Tuesday in the first game of their two-legged showdown in the Champions League second qualifying round.
The hosts are set to make their debut in this stage of the competition after a 4-1 aggregate victory in the first qualifying round, while the visitors were given an automatic pass into the second round and are gearing up for their first match in this season's tournament.
Match preview
After securing their first-ever Lithuanian league title last season, Panevezys made their debut in the Champions League when they took part in the first round of qualifying.
While their title defence has been disastrous, currently sitting at the bottom of the A Lyga on just 21 points from 22 games with five wins, six draws and 11 losses, Panevezys managed to pull off a shock victory against HJK Helsinki in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
A 3-0 victory on home soil in the first leg, their first home win following back-to-back league defeats, was enough to see Panevezys progress into the second round of the Champions League after they drew 1-1 in the second leg.
Despite that historic success, meaning they will feature at this stage of the competition for the first time, Panevezys fell to defeat once again in their last league outing, losing 2-1 to FK Kauno Zalgiris at the Aukstaitijos stadionas.
Their visitors, Jagiellonia, were also crowned champions of their domestic league for the first time in 2023-23, narrowly beating Slask Wroclaw to the title on head-to-head results after they both finished on 63 points.
Jaga have featured in the Europa League on five previous occasions, making it as far as the third qualifying round, but not since 2018-19 have they competed in any European competition, while they have never made an appearance in Europe's prestige tournament.
They were given an automatic pass into this round and Adrian Siemieniec will be looking to create further history with his side by advancing into the third round of qualifying.
The defending champions returned to the Ekstraklasa with a dominant 2-0 victory over Puszcza Niepolomice and aim to continue their positive momentum with a victory here.
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Team News
Panevezys made just one change from the side that secured the first-leg victory, with Jovan Cadenovic starting the second-leg in place of Cheikhou Dieng, who was suspended after a first-leg red card.
Dieng is back available for this game, and we expect Stijn Vreven to return to the 11 that pulled off the shock 3-0 victory in the first leg of that tie.
A solid performance in Jagiellonia's return to the Ekstraklasa last week could see Siemieniec opt to name a similar starting 11 in their first-ever Champions League match.
While they were the better side throughout that fixture, Jaga's goals came via two substitutes with Nene and Lamine Diaby-Fadiga making the difference, and both could start here.
Panevezys possible starting lineup:
Timbur; Rasimavicius, Dubra, Klimavicius, Mazan; Gorobsov; Veliulis, Palacios, De Vega, Dieng; Gussias
Jagiellonia Bialystok possible starting lineup:
Abramowicz; Sacek, Skrzypczak, Dieguez, Nguiamba; Romanczuk, Nene; Marczuk, Imaz, Hansen; Diaby-Fadiga
We say: Panevezys 1-2 Jagiellonia Bialystok
The hosts may have managed a shock victory in the first qualifying round, but they come into this game having returned to defeat last time out, their third successive loss in the league.
The visitors, on the other hand, returned to their domestic league with a commanding victory, and we expect them to secure the first-leg lead here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
