It was goalless until the 85th minute, when Filip Duricic scored the only goal of the match via a Malmö leg.
Panathinaikos already had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the first half, but 22-year-old Melker Ellborg – who got the chance in the MFF goal instead of Robin Olsen – saved Karol Swiderski's rather weakly struck penalty.
The loss means that MFF has only scraped together one of twelve possible points, halfway into the Europa League's league phase.
On top of everything, the remaining game schedule is tough. Before this year's football season ends, both Nottingham and Porto await on the road. On January 22, MFF will then host Red Star in the fourth and final home match. Then the team from Skåne will finish the following week with another away match, against Belgian Genk.
24 out of 36 teams advance to the knockout stages.
