A Derby Only On Paper

AGONAsport’s Olympiacos contributor, Theo Bouras, looks back at the Erythrolefki’s comfortable 3-0 triumph over Panathinaikos in the Super League at the weekend.

When you think of Olympiacos against Panathinaikos, you think of the biggest rivalry in Greece. A rivalry so fierce, it has gotten worldwide recognition for many infamous moments. Traditionally, these teams have been the cream of the crop of Greek football. In recent years, the Reds have dominated the Greens, though – and it hasn’t even been close.

Dictating the Pace

Panathinaikos travelled to Piraeus on Sunday having only won two of their past 23 derby road clashes against Olympiacos. The Legend was Greece’s most consistent team before the coronavirus break, and they have continued to dominate the league post-break as well.

After an injury to Mathieu Valbuena, the question that was on everyone’s mind was whether Kostas Fortounis or Maximiliano Lovera would take the place of the French star. The answer surprised us all; it was both! The fact that talented Panathinaikos left-back Emmanuel Insua was left out of the squad by manager Georgios Donis made Pedro Martins’ job a lot easier.

Insua is a dangerous full-back and had he played, Martins would have most certainly used Giorgos Masouras in the right-wing position. Masouras is a notoriously good hustler who drops back in order to help Olympiacos right-back, Omar Elabdellaoui. With Insua gone, Martins had the liberty of using Fortounis and Lovera which in return created havoc in the Tryfilli’s defence.

Fortounis still needs time to find his game and it will be unrealistic to expect him to be fully fit this season. He showed some signs of his brilliance on Sunday but he’s still got a long way to go before reaching his best.

Olympiacos scored two quick goals in the first 21 minutes of play which set the tone for a glorious victory. The issues between the Panathinaikos board and Donis almost seemed to pour on the pitch. The Greens looked like they were making their way to the slaughterhouse and showed no resistance. If you would have taken off their Panathinaikos jerseys and replaced them with Volos shirts, you would not have noticed a difference.

This game resembled Olympiacos’ first two Super League playoff games against PAOK and Aris, in which the Erythrolefki jumped out to an early first-half lead and coasted the rest of the way. The 3-0 scoreline came towards the end of the contest, with Olympiacos never really moving into second gear.

Looking Ahead

Though many would have preferred a 4-0 or 5-0 victory over eternal rivals, Panathinaikos, Pedro Martins did the right thing by resting some of his key players in the second half. Youssef El Arabi, Elabdellaoui, Mady Camara and Guilherme were all substituted with the taxing schedule ahead. As a whole, the entire Olympiacos squad looked like their minds were focused on Wednesday’s upcoming Greek Cup game.

PAOK will travel to Piraeus on Wednesday for the second leg of the Greek Cup semi-final. Olympiacos is trailing 2-3 on aggregate after the first game in Thessaloniki, but they do now have the advantage of playing at the Karaiskakis Stadium, albeit without fans.

After competing against PAOK, the 44-time Greek champions head to the OAKA to face AEK. The Kitrinomavroi haven’t been impressive in the playoffs but will most likely finish ahead of the Dikefalos tou Vorra in the race for UEFA Champions League football. AEK hasn’t beaten Olympiacos since February 2018 in the infamous 2-1 “Botia foul” game, but they are trying to get some swagger back with Massimo Carrera.

An Olympiacos-AEK final is very likely for the Greek Cup Final; the Gavroi need to make sure they set the tempo next week and plant the seeds for their first Cup triumph since 2015.

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