Friday Frappé: Good performances but…
In this week’s edition of the Friday Frappé, AGONAsport’s Peter Katsiris takes a look at Olympiacos’ recent performances in the UEFA Champions League and debates between good performances versus results.
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Olympiacos’ start to their UEFA Champions League group stage campaign has already seen the highs and lows of European football. The Piraeus giants have faced all three of their Group B rivals through the first three matchdays, and although the performances against some of the group’s heavy-hitters have been admirable, the results don’t appear to be there for Pedro Martins’ side.
With just one point through the first half of the group phase, Olympiacos sit at the foot of the table in Group B – two points off the guaranteed UEFA Europa League berth and a further point off a spot in the Champions League Round of 16.
A comeback effort on Matchday 1 saw Olympiacos erase a 2-0 deficit and peg back Tottenham for a draw in Piraeus. A totally different performance against Red Star Belgrade in Serbia saw Olympiacos fumble a 1-0 lead as the Erythrolefki crashed to a 3-1 defeat following Yassine Benzia’s harsh sending off. In the club’s most recent scalp on the continent, Olympiacos started brightly to take the lead against Bayern Munich before conceding three times to the German champions en route to a 3-2 defeat at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.
Each contest has seen Olympiacos put on decent performances against their Group B rivals, but not yet irresistible enough to claim the points required. The draw against Tottenham should have arguably been a win, and so too should have been the result in Belgrade with more focus following Benzia’s dismissal. Lastly, Wednesday’s second half performance against Bayern should have warranted at least point for the Piraeus giants.
While the table doesn’t tell the full story for Olympiacos, it’s the most important indicator for the club and Greek football as a whole. In a year where all of Greece’s other representatives suffered shock early exits in qualifying, there is added pressure (in theory) on Olympiacos to keep Greece’s coefficient in good standing heading into next season.
The back half of the group stage calendar sees Olympiacos travel to Munich and London for clashes with Bayern and Tottenham, though it might be the club’s Matchday 6 clash with Red Star Belgrade that is the most important for the Erythrolefki.
