London Calling - Olympiacos travel to take on Mourinho’s Tottenham
UEFA CHMAPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 5
Olympiacos head to England to play Tottenham in Matchday 5 of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions’ League. AGONAsport’s George Tsitsonis previews the match.
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Olympiacos face a difficult test in London on Tuesday night against a Tottenham side primed for a resurgence. Spurs have been on a downward spiral ever since the fantastic achievement of contesting a Champions’ League final versus Liverpool last June. That remarkable run papered over the cracks of a team that had taken too long to add new blood over the years.
Mauricio Pochettino was the architect of the North London club’s revival in the last five seasons where they have consistently qualified for the Champions’ League and have been mainstays in the top four of the English Premier League. A poor run to start the season though left his position in jeopardy and the manager was sacked during last week’s international break. In a stunning move, the club appointed Jose Mourinho as head coach. The legendary Portuguese boss took charge of his first match at the weekend, a 3-2 victory away to West Ham.
Whether or not Mourinho can bring trophies to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium remains to be seen, however Olympiacos could be facing Spurs at the wrong time. For over an hour on Saturday at West Ham, there appeared to be a new manager bounce in effect for the club before fatigue almost let the home side back into the match. Though large parts of the Tottenham faithful would have been upset to see Pochettino leave, there is almost certainly going to be a fantastic atmosphere on Tuesday evening as Mourinho oversees his first home match and European game for the club.
Victory would put Tottenham into the knockout round with a match to spare. Tottenham may have endured that humiliating 7-2 home defeat to Bayern Munich early on in this Champions’ League campaign, but after consecutive big wins over Red Star (5-0 at home and 4-0 away), the English side have put their European journey back on track and can finish the job of qualification with the three points this week.
Away draws to Xanthi and most recently Panionios this weekend see Olympiacos travel to England with some concerns about their form. The derby versus PAOK next weekend looms large on the horizon for a club that is clearly prioritizing a domestic title over a European run this season. The mood within the Erythrolefki camp is not the best at the moment. There was real disappointment from manager Pedro Martins about the team’s lack of responsibility in finishing off Panionios on Saturday. It was a match that Olympiacos dominated, but a lack of cutting edge in front of goal cost the team two precious points. That draw means they now share the top spot in the Greek Super League 1 standings with PAOK..
While Olympiacos are still in contention in Group B for a spot in the Round of 16, that seems like a massive stretch with the Greek club needing to win both of their remaining fixtures and receiving some help with other results. The most viable path for a continuation of their European season is with a third-place finish and entry into the Europa League’s Round of 32. That would most likely come with a victory over Red Star at home on the final Matchday in December. A point or at the very least a strong performance in England would still be highly valued and provide a timely boost in the crucial matches to come domestically and in continental play. For more on Olympiacos’ scenarios in Group B visit here.
Group B Standings
Bayern Munich 12 points
Tottenham 7 points
Red Star 3 points
Olympiacos 1 point
TEAM NEWS: Tottenham
Tottenham’s injury list is lengthy at the moment as they are without the likes of their first-choice and back-up goalkeepers in Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm. Also missing for the Londoners are Erik Lamela and Ben Davies. Jan Vertonghen and Tanguy Ndombele have minor issues, but are expected to be included in the squad.
Mourinho is likely to name a similar starting eleven as the one he put out against West Ham. Dele Alli and Lucas Moura are set to reprise their roles after recent votes of confidence from the new manager. Danny Rose is tabbed to make his first start under Mourinho after Davies’ injury at the weekend.
Possible Line-up (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Rose; Sissoko, Ndombele; Lucas, Dele, Son; Kane
TEAM NEWS: Olympiacos
Martins was apparently unhappy with some of the individual performances at the weekend. Maxi Lovera was left off the squad for the Tottenham match while it’s unlikely that Bruno Gaspar will feature at right-back if the first-choice player in that spot, Omar Elabdellaoui, can fully recover from a recent injury.
After missing the league match against Panionios at the weekend through suspension, Avraam Papadopoulos will return to the team and could be in line for a start in favor of Yassine Meriah. The big question mark centers on Mathieu Valbuena. After missing the last month due to a strain, Martins will have to decide whether the veteran French playmaker starts or comes off the bench.
Possible Line-up (4-3-3): Sa, Tsimikas, Semedo, Meriah, Elabdellaoui; Bouchalakis, Camara, Guilherme; Masouras, Podence, El-Arabi
REFEREE: Georgi Kabakov
The young Bulgarian will take charge of only his third ever Champions’ League encounter. The 33-year-old Kabakov refereed the Matchday 2 affair between Real Madrid and Club Brugge and last season oversaw a Group Stage match between Valencia and Manchester United.
The Tottenham-Olympiacos game will be the first time Kabakov whistles a match involving a Greek team.
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Assistant referees: Martin Margaritov (BUL);Divan Valkov (BUL)
Fourth official: Nikola Popov (BUL)
Video Assistant Referee: Michael Fabbri (ITA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Davide Massa (ITA)
