Olympiacos fall short in Belgrade, Qualification looks bleak
Olympiacos’ chances of reaching the Champions League knockout stage are hanging by a fine thread after they lost 3-1 away in Belgrade on Tuesday night. The Greek champions had the lead in the 37th minute through Ruben Semedo, but Yassine Benzia was sent off in the second half to leave Olympaicos with 10-men. Milos Vulic equalised for Red Star Belgrade five minutes later and the Serbian side scored twice at the death to seize a precious victory. The sending off was a cruel blow for Olympiacos and it leaves their chances of reaching the last 16 looking extremely precarious.
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Next up they face back-to-back games against German champions Bayern Munich and if they lose both encounters they could be out of the tournament. Bayern just thrashed Tottenham 7-2 in North London, with former Arsenal man Serge Gnabry scoring four times. That leaves Bayern top of the group with six points. Red Star Belgrade are now second, with three points, while Olympiacos and Spurs have one point apiece. The best sportsbooks such as sportsbetting.ag make Bayern Munich the heavy favourites to beat Olympiacos, so Pedro Martins’ men will need to deliver a big upset if they are to muscle their way back into contention in this group.
The task facing them is enormous. Bayern are European heavyweights, with an expensively assembled squad that is absolutely bursting with talent. They swept Red Star Belgrade aside in their opening game, with goals from Kingsley Coman, Robert Lewandowski, and Thomas Muller. They enjoyed 73% of the possession in that game, and had 34 shots on goal in a thoroughly dominant display.
The German champions were similarly impressive against Spurs, a side that went all the way to the final of this competition last season. Son Heung-Min put the Premier League side 1-0 up, before Joshua Kimmich and Lewandowski hit back. Gnabry then banged in four goals in the second half and Lewanadowski grabbed a second, while Harry Kane’s goal proved a mere consolation. Bayern had 10 shots on target and seven of them went in, showing just how clinical they were.
It is unfortunate that Olympiacos lost to Red Star Belgrade, who look the worst team in the group on paper. They really needed six points from their games with the Serbian side, but they were left reflecting on what might have been after that red card scuppered their chances. Now they need to get results against Bayern and Spurs, but they can take encouragement from their performance against Tottenham in the opening round. They were 2-0 down, but they battled back in style to draw 2-2.
Olympiacos are flying high once again in the domestic league and they remain unbeaten, with four wins and a draw from five games. They were similarly impressive in Champions League qualifying: they beat Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir home and away, they thrashed Russian outfit Krasnodar – who had just demolished Porto – and they also got the better of Viktoria Plzen. They could take a point or three against Bayern Munich, but they would need to play at their full potential and display aggression and confidence in the face of Bayern’s brilliance.
It is an awkward time to face Bayern, as they still need points to carry them through to the next round of the competition. By the time they face Spurs and Red Star for a second time, Bayern could already have wrapped up qualification for the last 16, allowing them to rest players for their challenges in the Bundesliga. Yet they will be highly motivated and surging with confidence when they face Olympiacos, so Martins will have to push his men to deliver a superhuman performance to seize victory.
