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Victory essential for Porto

FC Porto must triumph at home against Panathinaikos FC on Tuesday to stay in Europe.

FC Porto believe that a no-point return from their two UEFA Champions League Group C games against Real Madrid CF was a poor reward for all the hard effort they put in but the bald facts now show the urgency of a victory at home to Panathinaikos FC on Tuesday otherwise they will be eliminated from the competition.

Draw would be enough
The Greek team, for whom this is their 100th game in Europe's foremost club competition, know that a draw will be sufficient to take them through to the quarter-finals provided that the game in Madrid does not produce a surprise away win for AC Sparta Praha.

Buoyant Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos are buoyant having taken maximum points in their two back-to-back games with Sparta and they can also boast of never having conceded a goal against Portuguese opposition. Their three games (all against Porto) have produced two goalless draws in Athens and a 1-0 victory at the Das Antas stadium on their only previous visit in the 1995/96 Champions League when they went on to reach the semi-finals. That game was the only time Porto have lost at home to Greek visitors - four other matches producing three wins and a draw.

Crucial victory
Since Matchday Ten, Panathinaikos have recorded a crucial victory in the Ethniki Katigoria, defeating the previous leaders AEK Athens 2-0 at home. Goals by Angelis Basinas and Giorgios Karagounis allowed Sergio Markarian's team to draw level with AEK on 37 points.

Tight table
On Sunday, however, Panathinaikos faced a tough away match in the Harilaou stadium and could do no better than draw 0-0 with FC Aris Thessaloniki. AEK won, as did Olympiakos Piraeus FC and both sides went above Panathinaikos in a tight table.

Goumas doubtful
In Panathinaikos’s match Ioannis Goumas had to be withdrawn because of injury and he is now doubtful for Tuesday's game. "We did not play as much as we could have in order to win the game, but I have to  admit that we did our best," said Markarian after Sunday’s game. "I am not satisfied with the one point but I am satisfied with my players’ performance. We will keep on working hard."

‘Objective is the championship’
"Our first objective is to win the national championship," he continued. "Without any doubt, the Champions League is a very big tournament. It offers the chance to any coach or player to be known all over the world. However, I am afraid that, if we want to have success in both competitions we may, at the end, achieve nothing. Our president is the one who decides about our strategy and it is clear that his [priority] is to win the national league. Nowadays we are under heavy pressure. The team is playing well and our fans ask more and more things from us both in Greece and in Europe and this is not easy."

Suspensions
Panathinaikos will be without their Danish import Jan Michaelsen for Tuesday’s match as he is banned after receiving his third yellow card against Sparta. Porto will also be without defender Mário Silva because of a one-match suspension. Their focus will be on the other end of the field as they look to improve their scoring statistics. They have scored just once in the second group stage and have achieved only eight goals in their ten games, three of which came in the game with Celtic FC.

Mixed fortunes
Since Matchday Ten, Porto have enjoyed mixed fortunes domestically, firstly recording a 3-0 away win against SC Salgueiros thanks to two goals from Benni McCarthy and a single strike from Carlos Paredes. With neither Sporting Clube de Portugal, Boavista FC nor SL Benfica able to take three points in their contests, it seemed to have put Porto back in the title race and a chance of Champions League qualification.

Dropped points
But last Friday, Porto were beaten 3-0 by CF Os Belenenses and had Hélder Postiga sent off, a result which allowed Benfica to move level on points with José Mourinho’s side in third place.

Poor performance
"I'm very disappointed with my team’s performance," admitted Mourinho afterwards, while also hinting that there could be far-reaching changes for this week’s tie. "I don't know what happened. But a team that has only six players at their usual standard cannot expect to win matches."

‘Tough internal rules’
Club president Pinto da Costa was equally forceful in his comments, hinting at punishment for the players. “This situation cannot be allowed to repeat itself,” he said. “We have tough internal rules at the club.”

Costinha may return for Porto
Goalkeeper Vítor Baía is doubtful for Tuesday having sustained an injury to his left knee while defender Ricardo Carvalho is also struggling with a foot injury and will undergo a late fitness test. Costinha has now been passed fit after his long-term injury and could be included in the squad but Postiga is likely to be excluded as a result of his dismissal against Belenenses.

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