UEL: Ten-man Roma salvage vital draw in 'Ancient Derby' against PAO and secure spot in TOP 8
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Reading Time: 4min | Fri. 30.01.26. | 08:44
Although they played with a man down for more than 75 minutes, the Giallorossi secured a crucial point in Athens - 1-1
The "ancient derby" between the Greeks, Panathinaikos, and the Romans, AS Roma, ended in shared spoils. Although PAO had no chance to grab a place in the Europa League TOP 8, they seriously tormented the Giallorossi, which barely salvaged a 1-1 draw and kept their spot among the eight leading UEL teams.
Last night, Roma were first doomed and then saved by their centre-backs. Gianluca Mancini was sent off in the 16th minute, leaving his team severely disadvantaged, while Daniele Ghilardi made a huge blunder in the 58th minute, allowing Vicente Taborda to score the deadlock-breaker.
However, ten minutes before the end, the Giallorossi's 20-year-old central defender Jakub Ziolkowski came to the rescue, scoring a leveller worthy of the UEL TOP 8.
Consequently, Gian Piero Gasperini's crew will skip the playoffs, while the Greeks will face either Nottingham Forest or Viktoria Plzen.
Roma are through to the round of 16 thanks to a late equaliser from Jan Ziółkowski 🎫⏭️ pic.twitter.com/4pNfImyZnk
— OneFootball (@OneFootball) January 29, 2026
From the beginning of the match, it was clear that Roma came to Athens for three points. Only two minutes into the game, the visitors' Liverpool loanee, Konstantinos Tsimikas, threatened with a powerful shot after a counterattack, but the Ivory Coast international in Panathinaikos' goal, Alban Lafont, reacted excellently.
However, five minutes later, the custodian made a massive blunder, handing the ball to the visitors. Luckily for him, his captain Anastasios Bakasetas blocked Lorenzo Pellegrini's close-range effort, saving the popular PAO's skin.
And then, amid the Wolfess's offensive push, they suffered a major blow, as their centre-back Gianluca Mancini committed a foul on Panathinaikos' Milos Pantovic as a last defender, and was consequently sent off in the 16th minute.
A win for Roma tonight would secure their place in the top eight in the Europa League.
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) January 29, 2026
But Gianluca Mancini has just made their task tougher.
The defender brings down Panathinaikos' Milos Pantovic, and the yellow originally shown by the referee is upgraded to a red. pic.twitter.com/44gmP3K1a2
Still, Roma weren't too subordinate. On the contrary, they often attacked, though the game entered a relatively peaceful phase. The only notable moment before the break occurred in the 37th minute when PAO's Georgios Katris hit the bar with a stellar strike from outside the box.
At halftime, the Giallorossi boss, Gian Piero Gasperini subbed on the centre-back Evan Ndicka for the forward Matias Soule, opting deliberately for defending the goalless draw with ten men. At the same time, the rhythm of the game became even slower.
However, that slow pace brought the opener 13 minutes into the second half! Roma's 23-year-old centre-back Daniele Ghilardi made a blunder with a poor header towards his goalkeeper, allowing Vicente Taborda to seize a colossal chance and put Panathinaikos in front.
Following the opener, the "snoozefest" continued and lasted until the 80th minute when the 20-year-old Polish defender Jakub Ziolkowski scored the leveller with a fantastic header as if he was a striker, getting Roma back in the game and a race for the place in the Europa League TOP 8.
Despite the advantage they had, the Greeks barely attacked until the end of the match, so the Wolfess in the end defended their spot among the leading eight UEL teams, and will skip the playoffs. On the other hand, PAO will participate in today's draw and face either Nottingham Forest or Viktoria Plzen.
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 8
Thursday
Aston Villa - Salzburg 3-2 (0-1)
/Rogers 64, Mings 76, Jimoh 87 - Konate 33, Yeo 49/
Basel - Plzen 0-1 (0-1)
/Panos 39/
Betis - Feyenoord 2-1 (2-0)
/Antony 17, Ezzalzouli 32 - Tengstedt 77/
Celtic - Utrecht 4-2 (3-1)
/Nygren 6, Viergever 10 og, Engels 19 pen, Trusty 66 - De Wit 44, Blake 62/
Crvena Zvezda - Celta 1-1 (0-0)
/Duarte 89 - Lopez 87/
FCSB - Fenerbahce 1-1 (0-1)
/Cisotti 71 - Yuksek 18/
Genk - Malmo 2-1 (1-1)
/Heymans 45 pen, Karetsas 82 - Ali 4/
Go Ahead - Braga 0-0
Lille - Freiburg 1-0 (0-0)
/Giroud 90+2 pen/
Ludogorets - Nice 1-0 (1-0)
/Stanic 42/
Maccabi T.A. - Bologna 0-3 (0-1)
/Rowe 35, Orsolini 47, Pobega 90+4/
Midtjylland - Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 (0-0)
/Simsir 49, Jensen 74/
Nott. Forest - Ferencvaros 4-0 (2-0)
/Otvos 17 og, Jesus 21, 55, McAtee 90 pen/
Olympique Lyon - PAOK 4-2 (1-1)
/Himbert 33, Merah 55, Karabec 88, Rodriguez 90+3 - Giakoumakis 20, Meite 66/
Panathinaikos - Roma 1-1 (0-0)
/Taborda 58 - Ziolkowski 80/
Porto - Rangers 3-1 (3-1)
/Mora 27, Moura 36, Fernandez 41 og - Gassama 6/
Sturm - Brann 1-0 (0-0)
/Kiteishvili 85/
Stuttgart - Young Boys 3-2 (2-1)
/Undav 6, Demirovic 7, Andres 90 - Gigovic 42, Lauper 57/
