Panathinaikos on song for derby

Hot on the heels of their UEFA Champions League Group C victory over AC Sparta Praha, Panathinaikos FC return to domestic matters and Sunday's Ethniki Katigoria encounter with AEK Athens.

Couple for Konstantinou
A double from Michalis Konstantinou helped Panathinaikos complete a double over the Czech champions, who had succumbed 2-0 to their Greek visitors at the Letná stadium eight days previously.

European dream
One further win, either from their home game against FC Porto on 12 March or their visit to Real Madrid CF the following week should be sufficient to take Panathinaikos through to the quarter-final stage. They are certainly in good form, undefeated since 9 December, and another win today would put Sergio Markarian's side level on points with league leaders AEK, who have garnered just three wins from their last nine games.

Athens derby
Having bowed out of the UEFA Cup after a 5-3 aggregate defeat at the hands of Internazionale FC in midweek, AEK will be desperate to return to winning ways with their trip across town. But Fernando Santos's side's recent away form has been disappointing - a victory at relegation-threatened Aigaleo in February has been their only success on the road in 2002.

Tight at the top
With just five points separating the top five teams in the table, the Greek title race is one of the closest in recent years. As a result attendances have risen to levels not seen since the 1980s.

'Competitive edge'
Panathinaikos spokesman Manolis Grigorakis said: "The competitive edge in the championship is playing a role, we are averaging 90 per cent of capacity and this is happening at a lot of clubs not just the major teams." With that in mind, Grigorakis can expect another huge gate at the OAKA Spiros Louis stadium today.