Malmo were the more threatening of the two sides in the early stages, with Otto Rosengren’s fierce effort from distance on eight minutes turned behind by Panathinaikos goalkeeper Alban Lafont, who then excellently clawed the ball away following the resulting corner.
At the other end, Anass Zaroury’s curler drifted wide, and the visitors were then given a penalty in the 18th minute when Kenan Busuladzic’s loose touch on the edge of his own box was seized on by Pedro Chirivella, and in an effort to regain possession, Busuladzic fouled Karol Swiderski.
The visitors failed to take advantage, though, as the Pole’s stuttered run-up preceded a tame spot-kick that was easily saved by Melker Ellborg.
The home side then wasted a glorious three-on-one opportunity as Emmanuel Ekong’s weak pass was cut out by the only defender back, Erik Palmer-Brown, before Panathinaikos’ first half ended somewhat sourly, as Manolis Siopis received his third booking of the league phase, meaning that he will miss their UEL game against Sturm Graz in three weeks’ time.
Siopis could have immediately been punished for that bit of ill-discipline as the resulting free-kick was headed on target by Pontus Jansson, with Andrej Djuric and then Jansson unable to turn the loose ball home.
Malmo had the final chance before HT as Jens Stryger lost his balance when trying to fire home from Haksabanovic’s clipped cross, with Benitez, winner of the UEL with Chelsea and the UEFA Cup with Valencia, taking off Swiderski at the break and introducing Milos Pantovic.
That substitution didn’t seem to have the desired impact initially, however, as Ekong came close to connecting cleanly with Hugo Bolin’s fizzed cross, before Palmer-Brown may have felt he should have tested Ellborg after being found by Tete.
Just after the hour, Panathinaikos appeals for a penalty fell on deaf ears after Pantovic had gone down under the challenge of Djuric, but they could have gone ahead on 67 minutes when a Tete strike rattled the woodwork.
As things got slightly desperate late on, Tete was booked for diving, but Panathinaikos ultimately got the winner as a sustained spell of pressure culminated in a cross not being properly cleared by Djuric, with Zaroury capitalising to find the net via a deflection off the defender.
The 1-0 defeat means Malmo have now lost 21 of their last 26 European main-draw matches (W1, D4) and next face Nottingham Forest in the UEL, while Panathinaikos next play Sturm Graz in the competition with a spring in their step.