CSKA 1948 Bow Out of Europe After Battling Extra-Time Defeat to Panathinaikos

CSKA 1948's European run has come to an end after a 1-2 loss to Panathinaikos in the second leg of their Conference League third qualifying round tie, going down 3-2 on aggregate. The match went to extra time after finishing 1-1 in regulation, with Levy Garcia opening the scoring in the 60th minute before Lasha Dvali leveled things up in the 87th to force extra time. Cyriel Dessers then settled it for the Greek side just five minutes into the additional period.

Alexander Alexandrov's side put in another strong showing, much like they had a week earlier in Athens, giving Panathinaikos a real fight — but two costly mistakes ultimately proved decisive. Even so, CSKA 1948 will take plenty of pride from their performance against a far more expensively assembled opponent.

CSKA had the best chance of the opening stages, with Georgi Rusev forcing a diving save out of Iñaki Peña in the 7th minute. Panathinaikos grew into the game afterward but couldn't find a way past a well-organized Bulgarian defense, and the sides went in level at the break.

The breakthrough came in the 60th minute, when Levy Garcia dispossessed Ognjen Gašević down the right and drove into the box before finishing coolly. CSKA responded with sustained pressure and were rewarded in the closing stages of regulation, as Dvali fired home from a scramble following a long throw-in to level the score and send the match to extra time.

Extra time started poorly for the Bulgarians, however — a mishandled cross let Dessers in for a simple finish in the 95th minute to restore Panathinaikos's lead. CSKA pushed for another equalizer, with Bryan Sobrero coming closest with a dangerous strike that flew just over the bar in the 105th minute, but despite looking the fresher side for long spells, they couldn't find a way back level.

CSKA 1948 1-2 Panathinaikos
0-1 Garcia 60'
1-1 Dvali 87'
1-2 Dessers 95'

CSKA 1948: Marinov, Medina, Hoffmann, Dvali, Gashevich, Maciel, Cuéllar, Zemzemi, Rusev, Iliev

Panathinaikos: Peña, Kyriakopoulos, Van Drongelen, De Vrij, Chatzis, Kamara, Kirivella, Zaroury, Andino, Garcia, Rastoder