First Greek win in Champions League since 2015

In defeating Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday, Olympiacos claimed the first victory achieved by a Greek club in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League since 2015.

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Olympiacos scraped through to the Last 32 of the UEFA Europa League. Requiring a win against Red Star at the Karaiskakis Stadium, it looked as though Olympiacos were going to come up short after missing a huge amount of clear opportunities, but Youssef El Arabi came to the rescue in the closing minutes as he calmly converted a spot-kick. The Piraeus-based club tallied four points in Group B and qualified for the knockout phase of the Europa League instead of Red Star.

Incredibly, before Olympiacos’ victory on Wednesday evening, no Greek club had won a single game in the Champions League group stage since 2015! The miserable streak, which stood at 19 consecutive matches without a victory, has finally been snapped and fans will be hoping it doesn’t repeat itself in the near future.

Here is a list of the 19 results (two draws, 17 defeats) for Greek clubs in the Champions League group stage between Olympiacos’ win against Dinamo Zagreb in November 2015 and the triumph over Red Star yesterday:

2015/2016 season

Bayern Munich - Olympiacos - 4-0
Olympiacos - Arsenal - 0-3

2017/2018 season

Olympiacos - Sporting Lisbon - 2-3
Juventus - Olympiacos - 2-0
Barcelona - Olympiacos - 3-1
Olympiacos - Barcelona - 0-0
Sporting Lisbon - Olympiacos - 3-1
Olympiacos - Juventus - 0-2

2018/2019 season

Ajax - AEK - 3-0
AEK - Benfica - 2-3
AEK - Bayern Munich - 0-2
Bayern Munich - AEK - 2-0
AEK - Ajax - 0-2
Benfica - AEK - 1-0

2019/2020 season

Olympiacos - Tottenham Hotspur - 2-2
Red Star Belgrade - Olympiacos - 3-1
Olympiacos - Bayern Munich - 2-3
Bayern Munich - Olympiacos - 2-0
Tottenham Hotspur - Olympiacos - 4-2

Four points in a challenging group doesn’t tell the full story. At times, Olympiacos proved that they certainly have the potential to superior opponents a real challenge, however the Erythrolefki were hindered by poor finishing and clumsy defending. Olympiacos will discover their opponents in the Round of 32 in the Europa League on Monday afternoon.

MARTINS CLAIMS NEW ACHIEVEMENT

Since joining Olympiacos in 2018, Pedro Martins has earned 12 European victories across both the Champions League and Europa League, moving above Ernesto Valverde in the ranking who claimed 11 wins at the Erythrolefki helm.

Only Dusan Bajevic (14 victories) has won more UEFA matches as Olympiacos boss.

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: to10.gr

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