It allowed Rangers to put one foot in the next<\/a> round but Vitoria is adamant the tie isn\u2019t over.<\/p>\nHe accepts that Ibrox punters were delighted with the win – but believes their over-confidence might come back to bite Martin\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
When asked if he\u2019d noticed Rangers celebrating at the end – and if he had a message for the Panathinaikos fans – Vitoria said: \u201cGood question. Of course, it was a result that gave pleasure and satisfaction to Rangers.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you should never forget there is a second match coming up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s normal for their fans to be happy with the result.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow, we\u2019ll do our best because we\u2019re looking forward to qualification.<\/p>\n
\u201cRangers are a good team but so are Panathinaikos.<\/p>\n
![\"Rangers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_JS375939870.jpg\")
Rangers head for Panathinaikos with a two goal lead<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have more than 40,000 fans behind us. They will give us confidence and we think we can still go through.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be together and more united than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a nice atmosphere in Glasgow but, believe me, it will be a hot atmosphere in Athens.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur rivals will understand that it\u2019s not easy to play here – not for Rangers or anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vitoria insists home advantage will be crucial for the Greek outfit tomorrow night at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.<\/p>\n
He has urged his side to get a grip of the game early and put Rangers on the back foot.<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s convinced that if they can score the critical first goal – Panathinaikos can go on to win the tie.<\/p>\n
![\"Rangers'](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_JS375934762.jpg\")
Rangers’ John Souttar and Panathinaikos’ Fotis Ioannidis battle it out for the ball at Ibrox<\/p>\n
The former Benfica, Spartak Moscow and Egypt coach said: \u201cWe have to read the game and, of course, we\u2019re looking for a quick goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you do this without being concentrated, that can be a mistake.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s important is not to let our rivals take the initiative in the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to create that and know exactly what to expect from Rangers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what we have to do – be confident and concentrated during the 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re playing in our own ground with our fans helping us.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow is another final for us and we have to be ready to succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had so many chances in Glasgow but couldn\u2019t score. Rangers had less but scored two goals. We were punished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re playing a team with a lot of quality but the first game left us with a bitter taste in our mouths.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if we\u2019re confident on Wednesday and believe in our plan, we can succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing is to score the first goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we do that, the second and third will come too.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Panathinaikos'](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_Rangers-v-Panathinaikos-UEFA-Champions-League-Second-Qualifying-Round-First-Leg.jpg\")
Panathinaikos’ Giorgos Vagiannidis fouls Rangers’ Findlay Curtis which results in a second yellow card and a red card(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n
Panathinaikos aren\u2019t expected to make many changes, with only suspended right-back Georgios Vagiannidis missing after his Ibrox red card.<\/p>\n
Vitoria doesn\u2019t envisage his opposition number Martin ripping up his philosophy either in Athens – unless Rangers find themselves behind.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cRangers will play the same way as in Glasgow, I don\u2019t expect the coach to make any transformations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything will depend on how much pressure we put them under.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coach will respect the same principles as the first game.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if they\u2019re losing the game, he might make changes. We\u2019ll be ready and prepared for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players I will use know exactly what they need to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re prepared, we have a plan – and we can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Panathinaikos gaffer Rui Vitoria has told Rangers supporters they partied too early in Glasgow after the first leg…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,568,24777,1259,9323,9329,561,82],"class_list":["post-32363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-champions-league","tag-ibrox-stadium","tag-middle-east","tag-rangers-fc","tag-russell-martin","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}