Five changes and nobody dropped a level
Nistrup changed five of his starters for the trip to Volos (1)(4)(9). Penya came in goal. Salah Edin, Van Drongelen, De Vrij and Kalabria formed the back four, with Dessers and Tetey paired in a 4–4–2 (3)(7)(8). Panathinaikos are top of the Super League on 18 points from 7 games, +13 on goal difference. Rotating that many bodies in a league this tight usually costs you. Here it cost nothing.
That is the story of the week. Not the rotation itself, but what it says about the squad. A manager who can swap five and still field a side built to attack has depth other clubs in Greece do not have. Both Dessers and Tetey started (7)(8). The shape was aggressive on purpose (7).
The table says one thing, the Olympiacos result another
18 points from 7, and the form line reads W L W W W. The 5–1 over Asteras Tripoli on October 18 and the 5–1 away at Kairat Almaty on October 22 in the Conference League are the reason. That is eight goals in two games, and neither opponent got close.
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The single loss is the one to keep. Olympiacos 1–0 on October 11 in Piraeus. One goal decided it, and Panathinaikos have not dropped a point since. Eighteen points is a real lead. It is not a comfortable one until the derby maths change.
Two youth wins over the same opponent
The K15 side beat Volos 2–0 (6). The U15 side beat Volos 2–0 as well, in the eighth round of the Super League U15, Kambos finishing after a Bletsas cross and a Trintafyllidis header (10). That is five wins in seven for the K15s (6). An academy that keeps producing results at that age is a pipeline, and pipelines matter when the senior squad rotates five men and still wins.
Money still owed on Teté
Grémio took Teté to Porto Alegre in January 2026 for €6.2m and have not paid what they owe (12). Panathinaikos are prepared to take it to court, and the money could come back into the club's path (12). Meanwhile the club are tracking a centre-forward (13). Those two facts sit well together: an unpaid instalment is a January budget line, and a January budget line is a striker.
What to watch
AEK Athens at home on Sunday, November 1, at 18:00 CET. Same week, CSKA Sofia in the Conference League on Thursday, November 5, then Iraklis away on November 8. Three games in eight days is the first real test of whether the five-change rotation is a policy or a one-off. If Nistrup rotates again and still wins, the squad argument holds. If he reverts to the same eleven three times running, we will know what he actually thinks of his bench.
