One of Europe's Elite

AGONAsport’s Olympiacos contributor, Theo Bouras, talks about the exceptional performance by Olympiacos in their emphatic 4:0 win over Viktoria Plzen in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round.

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There is an aura that has been tied to Olympiacos in Europe. The Legend has shown over the past decade and a half that it belongs with European football's biggest names. Often times when things look bleak, Olympiacos show fight and overcomes the odds.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Olympiacos squads were often very skillful on attack but lacked the necessary defence, structure, and coaching to make a deep run in Europe. For the past fifteen plus years, the team has shown a more confident approach and their mentality has been that of a top class team.

Before anybody gets ahead of themselves; allow me to clarify. Nobody considered Viktoria Plzen the second coming of the historic 2009 Barcelona club. During my last blog, I touched on how the Czechs were a very structured team that has had a solid European presence over the last few years.

Pedro Martins and his squad deserve a lot of credit for their performance last Tuesday. The Erythrolefki pressed throughout the entire first half but were unable to get on the scoresheet. Instead of showing panic, the crew kept their composure and netted four goals in a triumphant second half. The fans at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium also deserve a lot of credit for staying patient with the team and continuing to cheer on.

Everyone Did Their Part

With team captain Kostas Fortounis out for the rest of the calendar year, coach Martins knows that the entire crew needs to step up their game and contribute. Goalkeeper Jose Sa, once again, was steady when called upon. The central defensive pairing of Ruben Semedo and Yassine Meriah seemed like they've played together for years and might turn out to be as good as the legendary Olof Mellberg-Avraam Papadopoulos duo.

Omar Elabdellaoui and Kostas Tsimikas were also very effective in their wingback roles. Tsimikas, especially, was a rock defensively, completely neutralizing the dangerous right winger Joel Ngandu Kayamba. If Tsimikas works on the offensive aspect of his game, he'll give no issues becoming Olympiacos's main left back if Leonardo Koutris is ultimately sold.

In the middle of the pitch, Guilherme had another world-class performance. Aside from opening the score for the home side, the Brazilian midfielder gave the Piraeus-based team a sense of security in the midfield. His partner, Andreas Bouchalakis, continues to string solid performances and will most likely be in the Starting XI this Wednesday against Basaksehir. Martins made a small alteration against Plzen that helped both Guilherme and Bouchalakis. Instead of having them play on their natural sides, Martins had the right-footed Guilherme play on the left while the left-footed Bouchalakis played on the right side of the pitch. This facilitated both of the central midfielder's ability to make easier through passes and spread the ball to the wings.

Mathieu Valbuena had another solid night on home-soil while wingers Daniel Podence and Giorgos Masouras did their best to create scoring chances for the 44-time Greek Champions. Miguel Angel Guerrero potted in a key goal and played with heart. Guerrero will never be the most talented player on the field but his constant pressing against opposing defences and his ability to drop back to carry the ball up the field are his strengths. With Youssef El Arabi not completely match fit, it's hard not to imagine Guerrero being the starting striker when Olympiacos travels to Turkey next week.

The aggregate against the Turkish League runners-up will be anything but easy. While Basaksehir do not have the cohesiveness that Victoria Plzen had, they have a much higher team budget with players that can make the difference. A serious Olympiacos can knock out the Turks and bring the Legend one step closer to the Champions League group stages. Fifteen years ago or so, a team that had names like Edin Visca, Robinho, and Arda Turan might have made Erythrolefki fans nervous; that's not the case in 2019 where Olympiacos are truly one of Europe's best.

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Aris Thessaloniki and Atromitos on their Europa League aggregate wins. It's nice to have somebody else besides Olympiacos give some UEFA Coefficient points for Greece.

by Theo Bouras

Image Source: To10.gr

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