Fixture pile-up awaits Olympiacos to start 2020
With a congested fixture list on three fronts including the Greek Super League 1, the Europa League, and the Greek Cup, Olympiacos are set for a difficult start to 2020.
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Olympiacos have played more matches in the 2019/20 season than any other Greek side due to their success in navigating three rounds of Champions’ League qualifiers that began back in July and the corresponding Champions’ League Group Stage matches that followed.
After a congested first half of the season due to those European matches and the club’s Super League 1 fixtures, Pedro Martins’ men will pick up where they left off to begin 2020.
The New Year will see Olympiacos face a jam-packed January and February, two months that could well play a massive role in determining the Piraeus club’s fate this season on multiple fronts.
In fact, Martins will have no choice but to rotate heavily during this time period with the club facing as many as 15 matches in the span of only 56 days (13 are currently scheduled with two more possible should Olympiacos advance past Kalamata in the Greek Cup).
Olympiacos begin this stretch of matches with a derby against Panathinaikos at home just after the New Year on January 5th. Three days later is a trip to Kalamata (January 8th), then an away match at Lamia (1/12), followed up by the return leg of the Greek Cup tie versus Kalamata on January 15th.
Three difficult encounters occur between January 19th-26th as the Erythrolefki host Aris then face two challenging away games at OFI and AEK in the span of only four days.
February begins with a home match against Xanthi, then two potential Greek Cup matches sandwiched around a Super League 1 game away to Atromitos. Olympiacos play Panionios on February 15th before finishing the month with a season-defining week.
On February 20th, Olympiacos host Arsenal in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 32 match-up. Three days later they play one of the biggest domestic matches of the season when they face off against title rivals PAOK in Thessaloniki. Four days after that is a trip to London for the second leg against Arsenal. In the span of seven days, Olympiacos will hope to navigate a high-profile European game against one of England’s traditional big clubs and a crucial derby against PAOK, Olympiacos’ main challengers in the Super League 1.
Martins will hope that certain squad members who have yet to shine such as Yassine Benzia and Max Lovera will find form with the chances they are surely to receive. The good news for the Portuguese manager is that by February he should be able to select from a full squad. The likes of Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and Mathieu Valbuena are on the mend and available for selection while star-man Kostas Fortounis is projected to return to the pitch at the end of January or early February.
All in all, Olympiacos’ performances and corresponding results during January and February will play a big part in whether the 2019/20 season is deemed successful.
Olympiacos Schedule to Start 2020
5-Jan: v Panathinaikos (Super League)
8-Jan: @ Kalamata (Greek Cup, Last 16)
12-Jan: @ Lamia (Super League)
15-Jan: v Kalamata (Greek Cup, Last 16)
19-Jan: v Aris (Super League)
22-Jan @ OFI (Super League)
26-Jan: @ AEK (Super League)
1-Feb: v Xanthi (Super League)
5-Feb: Possible quarter-final Cup match
9-Feb: @ Atromitos (Super League)
12-Feb: Possible quarter-final Cup match
15-Feb: v Panionios (Super League)
20-Feb: v Arsenal (Europa League, Last 32)
23-Feb: @ PAOK (Super League)
27-Feb: @ Arsenal (Europa League, Last 32)
