Someone forgot to tell Olympiacos that it wasn’t a friendly
AGONAsport’s Olympiacos contributor, Theo Bouras, talks about the Erythrolefki’s disappointing loss away to Red Star Belgrade in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League action.
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Upon hearing the starting XI for the Champions League game against Red Star Belgrade last Tuesday, shock is probably the best adjective to describe how most Olympiacos supporters felt. Replacing Daniel Podence, who has the team’s quickest pace and flair, with Maximiliano Lovera (a 20 year-old prospect with a ton of upside but nowhere near match fit yet) was a shock. Replacing the team’s most consistent midfielder, Guilherme, with Mady Camara was a shock. Replacing the team’s most prolific playmaker, Mathieu Valbuena, with Yassine Benzia was a shock. Finally, inserting Vasilis Torosidis in the starting XI after the Greek international hadn’t started a single game this season was a shock.
An Atmosphere for the Ages
You couldn’t have asked for a more ideal atmosphere. Fans from both sides parade in the streets of Belgrade and chanted for both teams. Olympiacos’ “Red Brothers” were fantastic hosts and everyone agreed that the two clubs would be opponents only for 90 minutes on the pitch. The game in the first 30 minutes almost felt like both teams were feeling each other out.
To nobody’s surprise, the right side of the pitch for Olympiacos with Torosidis and Giannis Masouras did very little to help offensively. Masouras is a hard worker; he constantly drops back to help the defense, but is not an explosive winger. Often times this year when Olympiacos would develop plays from the right side, it was Omar Elabdellaoui who would make timely runs and work the overlap to become the catalyst. The experienced Torosidis is a smart player, but the legs feed the wolf and the Greek right back is starting to show his age and wasn’t able to contribute.
Olympiacos took the lead to the dressing room at half-time, but their performance was far from convincing. The only positive was that Red Star Belgrade didn’t look very synchronized either. The Serbian squad was unable to string together more than two passes and their attempts on goal were feeble. Then in the second half, Yassine Benzia got booked for the second time. Sure, French referee Benoit Bastien was very strict but when you already have a yellow card, you don’t play with fire.
In a flash of a second, Red Star Belgrade became Barcelona FC and tied the game almost instantly. In the 87th minute, Nemanja Milunovic won a header from Ruben Semedo and the game was lost. The 1991 European Champions had gone ahead, and the Erythrolefki were left to wonder what went so wrong.
Martins Playing with Fire
Pedro Martins received some criticism after the Panathinaikos game for not freshening up the Starting XI against the Greens. The team has started their official games since late July and some players had gone straight with no rest. The Portuguese manager didn’t rest anyone against the Tryfilli and the game was a 1-1 bore. The logical step would have been to rest some key players the next week against Lamia at home. Instead, Martins put the familiar starting line-up in a 2-0 victory.
With a tough fixture in Thessaloniki against Aris FC, you figured Lamia would be the only opportunity Martins would get to rest some players. That’s where we all thought wrong. Martins put out an unrecognizable line-up in Serbia and ultimately paid the price. Sure, people will argue that the team had a 0-1 lead but Benzia’s red ruined the plans. To those people I ask this question; aside from the goal, were you happy with what you saw in the first 60 minutes? If the answer is anything but no, we’re not dreaming of the same type of Olympiacos.
One month ago Pedro Martins was considered untouchable; he had rocketed through the Champions League qualifying stages and the team looked like it was in mid-season form. Fast forward to early October and the team has been unconvincing in the Super League and is now at a risk of not even finishing in third place in the Champions League to at least compete in the Europa League in the new year. Nobody is officially saying that Martins is in the hot seat, but a misstep in Thessaloniki against a dangerous Aris side might be the beginning of the end for Pedro Martins.
