Having rested a further five players on top of the senior quartet who were already left out of the squad, the Italian was always going to heavily tinker with his team.
As expected, an entirely different starting lineup from the one which was selected for Sunday's Premier League fixture at Liverpool has been chosen.
Most notably, goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is fit enough to start between the sticks having recovered from a head injury sustained while representing Denmark Under-21s earlier this month.
Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernandez are both given starting roles having not featured in the first XI at Anfield, the former due to suspension.
That will see Renato Veiga feature at centre-back rather than on the left, while the front four are as anticipated with Mykhaylo Mudryk coming back into the side having missed out completely last weekend.
Cesare Casadei is the player to miss out courtesy of Fernandez's inclusion, although it would be a surprise if he does not replace Fernandez at some stage during the second half.
Familiar name in Panathinaikos XI
As for Panathinaikos, former Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri is the standout name in their starting lineup.
Nemanja Maksimovic and Azzedine Ounahi are also among those who have been brought into the midfield by head coach Diego Alonso.
Despite scoring the only goal of the game at Crete at the weekend, winger Tete has dropped down to the substitutes' bench.
Panathinaikos: Dragowski; Kotsiras, Schenkeveld, Jedvaj, Mladenovic; Gnezda Cerin, Maksimovic; Mancini, Ounahi, Pellistri; Jeremejeff
Subs: Arao, Bakasetas, Bregou, Djuricic, Fikaj, Ingason, Lilo, Lodygin, Ntampizas, Sporar, Tete, Vagiannidis
Chelsea: Jorgensen; Disasi, Badiashile, Veiga, Cucurella; Fernandez, Dewsbury-Hall; Neto, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku
Subs: Sanchez, Bergstrom, Tosin, Casadei, Chukwuemeka, George, Madueke, Mhueka, Rak-Sakyi, Sancho