CSKA lost 1–2 to Panathinaikos in Athens in a match from the third round of the main phase of the Conference League. The Bulgarian team produced a strong first half, but the hosts secured their third consecutive victory in the tournament.
Panathinaikos started the match more actively and created several dangerous opportunities in front of Fyodor Lapukhov’s goal. The CSKA goalkeeper made a decisive save from a shot by Santino Andino, and later also stopped a one-on-one effort by Davide Calabria. The hosts’ pressure paid off in the 41st minute. After a combination between Levi Garcia and Vicente Taborda, Calabria found himself one-on-one with Lapukhov and opened the scoring.
CSKA responded quickly. Three minutes later, Stefano Sensi delivered a corner, and Dinis Almeida met the ball from close range to equalise at 1–1. That was the score at half-time.
Panathinaikos once again started the second half more strongly. Lapukhov saved a shot that Elmin Rastoder followed up, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
In the 69th minute, the Greek side eventually scored a second goal. Andreas Tete passed from the byline to Taborda, who took advantage of a mistake in the CSKA defence and scored to make it 2–1. The Army Men were unable to restore parity before the end.
Before the match, CSKA head coach Markus Gisdol warned that against a team of Panathinaikos’ calibre, “you cannot make mistakes”. The Greek manager Jakob Neestrup, meanwhile, described CSKA as a “top team” in the Bulgarian league.
After the third round, CSKA remain on one point from three matches. Their next Conference League fixture is a home match against Trabzonspor on 26 November, while Panathinaikos will travel to face Nordsjælland.