Olympiacos reach UCL group stage for 19th time

As a result of their thumping 6-1 aggregate triumph over FC Krasnodar in the UEFA Champions League qualification playoffs, Olympiacos will compete in the group phase of the competition for the 19th time in their history.

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On Tuesday, Olympiacos breezed past a poor Krasnodar side in Russia, comfortably winning 2-1 to seal the large 6-1 aggregate triumph. Youssef El Arabi, who replaced the injured Miguel Angel Guerrero in the starting line-up at the last minute, scored two classic poacher’s goals at the modern Krasnodar Stadium to earn a memorable victory on the road.

This will be the 19th time when Olympiacos compete in the group stage of the Champions League. Overall, Olympiacos are seventh in the all-time list of clubs with the most appearances in the group phase of the competition, trailing only Juventus (20), Manchester United (22), FC Porto (23), Bayern Munich (23), Barcelona (24) and Real Madrid (24). The likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, AC Milan, AS Roma, Internazionale and Ajax have all played in the Champions League group stage less times than Olympiacos.

Olympiacos qualified for the group stage without losing any of the six qualifying games against Viktoria Plzen, Basaksehir and Krasnodar, winning five and drawing the one match in the Czech Republic. The goal scored by Daniil Utkin yesterday was the only marker that Olympiacos conceded in qualifying. It’s also worth mentioning that this was the first goal Jose Sa conceded in 790 minutes across all competitions; the last time the ball ended up in his net was on March 31 against Atromitos (2-1).

At the same time, Olympiacos remained unbeaten in the 16th successive UEFA qualifying game, while tallying their 37th away victory in European competitions. Panathinaikos are in second place in that particular category with 31 continental road wins.

El Arabi became the third Olympiacos player in history to score more than once in a European away match. Konstantinos Mitroglou (Anderlecht - Olympiacos, 2013/2014 Champions League) and El Fardou Ben Nabouhane (Partizan - Olympiacos, 2017/2018 Champions League) are the others.

Pedro Martins now boasts 11 European victories as Olympiacos head coach since he was employed by the club in the summer of 2018. Only one Olympiacos manager has more victories in Europe: Dusan Bajevic (14).

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: to10.gr

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