Panathinaikos will be ready for Rangers, says boss Vitoria

BBC News

3 days ago

Panathinaikos boss Rui Vitoria insists his side are ready for Ibrox on Tuesday night, despite a scant knowledge of Rangers. The Portuguese side arrived in Glasgow for the first leg of the Champions League second round qualifier with the return leg taking place in Athens next week. Tuesday's match will be Russell Martin's first competitive game in charge of the Glasgow club and also the first time he's managed in a European tie. The new boss will have the option of seven new recruits and opposition manager Vitoria admits it's been difficult to prepare with the lack of information on Martin's side. "Yes, it has been a challenge for me because I didn't see almost any games," the Panathinaikos boss said. "They have only played one friendly match against [Club] Brugge, which was open. The rest were closed so it was very difficult for us to have a lot of information, so this makes our job and my job as a trainer a bit more difficult."But we are ready, we are ready."Of course, we don't know the other team as normal, but I don't cry because of that."I go and face the opponent and let's go and let's fight and put everything on the pitch."He's a new coach and new ideas, so of course, it will be different football than previously here."We tried to catch the information that we need, but, of course, we are in the beginning of the season. We don't know the details of the other team. Maybe the coach from Rangers has more information about us than us about them."It will be the first time I'll play against a team from Scotland. Of course it's a football I appreciate and I appreciate the evolution the football has had in the last years with the good ideas."The atmosphere is always fantastic and the fans want to be on the pitch."But when we go to the pitch we only focus on the first 11 of the team."