The victory serves as a powerful statement from the Greek side, who arrived in Switzerland with a new coach and a desire to turn around a challenging domestic start. They wasted no time, delivering a devastating early blitz that left the home crowd in shock.
A First-Half Blitz
Panathinaikos set a relentless pace from the kick-off, taking full advantage of a porous Young Boys defense. The opening goal arrived in the 10th minute when striker Karol Świderski showed pure predatory instinct, deftly guiding a misdirected shot from Tetê past goalkeeper Marvin Keller.
The floodgates opened just four minutes later. In the 14th minute, Anass Zaroury hammered home the second goal from a near-post corner, demonstrating brute force to double the lead. Before the home side could register a response, Zaroury struck again in the 19th minute, pouncing on a weak parry from Keller after a long-range effort by Anastasios Bakasetas. In less than 20 minutes, Panathinaikos held a stunning 3-0 advantage.
Young Boys managed to claw a goal back in the 25th minute when defender Saidy Janko found the bottom corner to provide a brief moment of hope. However, despite generating chances, including a few gilt-edged opportunities, the Swiss side's wasteful finishing meant they could not reduce the deficit further before the break, going into halftime trailing 3-1.
Zaroury Seals the Masterpiece
The second half settled into a more tactical affair, with the visitors focused on managing the match and the hosts growing frustrated. Any faint hopes of a Young Boys comeback were brutally extinguished in the 68th minute by the man of the match.
Meeting a teasing cross from Giannis Kotsiras, Anass Zaroury unleashed a volleyed finish that ripped into the net, sealing his first-ever professional hat-trick and Panathinaikos's comprehensive 4-1 victory.
The win not only secures a crucial three points but immediately propels Panathinaikos to the top of the group table, signaling their ambition in the competition and giving their new coach, Christos Kontis, a dream start to his European tenure. It was a performance defined by clinical finishing and an early attacking intensity that Young Boys simply could not handle.