Fiorentina were outstanding in the first half, firing in 14 shots in total and forcing Bartlomiej Drągowski into no fewer than six saves. Albert Gudmundsson had the game’s opening chance, as his shot deflected just wide of Drągowski’s near post. From the resulting corner, the hosts took the lead inside 12 minutes in stunning fashion.
The ball rolled out to Rolando Mandragora, and he took one touch before unleashing from distance, with the ball swerving into the bottom corner.
The goalscorer tried his luck from range again a few minutes later, but Dragowski was on hand this time to tip over the bar.
La Viola were applying constant pressure and just moments later, they scored their second.
Gudmundsson drove with the ball before firing towards goal, and his effort took a deflection to beat Drągowski at his near post and give Fiorentina the lead on aggregate.
Raffaele Palladino’s men really ought to have scored again before half-time, as Drągowski palmed away two well-hit free-kicks from Mandragora and Danilo Cataldi respectively, while also denying Moise Kean on two occasions.
The striker headed wide from a promising position from a corner in another golden opportunity, while Panathinaikos’ biggest chance to respond came from Tete, who curled narrowly wide from the edge of the area.
After being totally dominated in the opening period, the visitors improved after the restart, and could have restored aggregate parity when substitute Fotis Ioannidis was found by a Dragowski long ball, but his shot from the angle was deflected just wide.
They continued to threaten as Ioannidis broke forward again and unselfishly fed Tetê, but his goalbound strike was well blocked by Pietro Comuzzo before he was denied again at the back post by a last-ditch Robin Gosens block.
However, La Viola always threatened on the break and Kean made sure of progression as he cut inside before neatly tucking the ball past Dragowski.
Tensions grew after the hosts conceded a needless penalty in the final 10 minutes as Azzedine Ounahi was brought down in the box. Ioannidis calmly slotted into the top corner, sending David de Gea the wrong way.
Fiorentina’s nerves were eased again when Filip Mladenovic was shown a second yellow card and duly sent off as he tried to stop a counter-attack in stoppage time, with Rui Vitoria’s side now winless in eight away games in all competitions as a result as they exited the competition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rolando Mandragora (Fiorentina)