Olympiacos, Panathinaikos included in top 30 of all-time Champions League ranking

Both Olympiacos and Panathinaikos have been included in the top 30 of the all-time European Cup/UEFA Champions League ranking.

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In recent years, Greek clubs have horribly underachieved in the Champions League, with AEK notably losing all six games in the 2018/2019 group stage and Olympiacos only winning one of their last 14 group matches in the competition. Nevertheless, despite the well-documented struggles, two clubs from Greece have been included in the top 30 positions of the all-time European Cup/Champions League ranking.

Possessing 62 victories, 32 draws and 78 defeats in 172 matches, Olympiacos are ranked 24th, while Panathinaikos sit in 28th place with 49 victories, 45 draws and 63 defeats in 157 games:

AEK, for their part, find themselves in 70th position with 18 wins, 22 draws and 34 losses. Reigning Greek champions PAOK, who are yet to compete in the group stage of the Champions League after regularly falling short in the qualifying rounds, are ranked 152nd. AE Larissa, having only played in two Champions League games, are in 361st place.

Cypriot representatives APOEL, quarter-finalists of the 2011/2012 Champions League season as they famously defeated the likes of Zenit Saint Petersburg and Olympique Lyonnais, have been ranked 49th in the list with 29 wins, 25 draws and 40 defeats. In the current season, APOEL progressed from the UEFA Europa League group stage, beating Sevilla, Qarabag and Dudelange in Group A.

Interestingly, if we only take into account matches since the 1992/1993 season when European Cup was renamed the UEFA Champions League, Olympiacos are 18th in the club ranking, Panathinaikos are 29th and AEK are 65th. 

Since the 1992/1993 campaign, Panathinaikos have recorded six consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League while reaching the semi-finals in 1996, AEK drew seven successive matches and went 21 games without a win, and Olympiacos suffered a big 7-0 loss to Juventus in 2003:

This year, Olympiacos picked up four points in Group B of the Champions League, beating Red Star Belgrade 1-0 in Piraeus, drawing 2-2 at home against Tottenham and losing twice to Bayern Munich. Olympiacos, finishing in third place of the group, have been pitted against Arsenal in the Last 32 of the Europa League.

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: gazzetta.gr

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