Panathinaikos star Gilberto Silva.

Brazilian star Gilberto Silva is among the players that Panathinaikos coach Henk ten Cate has chosen to fly to Georgia today.

The Greek club faces Dinamo Tbilisi tomorrow evening in the second leg of the Champions League second qualifying round and the Dutch manager has decided to take the experienced defensive midfielder with him despite his lack of match fitness.

The former Arsenal player is clearly gearing up to be ready for the prospective key games against Sparta Prague in the next round that will determine which club will reach the prestigious competition’s group stage.

With Panathinaikos leading 3-0 from the first leg in Athens, it is the favorite to go through. Ten Cate has also selected goalkeeper Arkadiusz Malarz and midfielder Silva Cleyton who had been left out of the first leg, but dropped injured Andreas Ivanschitz and out-of-favor Alexandros Tziolis. Ivanschitz had scored the first goal in Athens. Dimitris Salpigidis, scorer of the other two, is in the squad for Tbilisi.