Time to Shine, Legend
AGONAsport’s Olympiacos contributor, Theo Bouras, looks ahead to the second leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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In a year in which nothing has been normal, Olympiacos are preparing for their biggest game of the season, as they head to England to clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers. A victory or a 2-2 (or higher) draw would send the Erythrolefki to the quarter-finals.
The Clash of Their Lives
For the club and these players, this isn’t just an ordinary game. Olympiacos, who have never won a European trophy, are four victories away from a Europa League title. To put things into perspective, if a team would only have four games left in a normal season, they’d already be in the Europa League semi-finals. This unprecedented format gives an outsider like Olympiacos a real chance to upset.
It might seem like centuries ago, but the first leg, which took place on March 12th, showed that the Legend was able to compete with the Wolves. Playing with 10 men from the first half, Olympiacos took the lead and only conceded after an unlucky sequence of events.
A 1-1 away draw gives the English side a slight advantage going into Thursday’s second leg. The Greek champions absolutely need a goal and Pedro Martins is still unsure what his starting XI will look like. In the net, Bobby Allain gets the nod after a shock injury to Jose Sa last Saturday in training. Sa has been a rock for Olympiacos and his absence will surely be missed. The 28-year-old Allain is a capable keeper and will have his chance to shine on a grand stage.
Defensively, Omar Elabdellaoui, Ousseynou Baa, Pape Abbou Cisse and Kostas Tsimikas will start. Ruben Semedo, who received a red card, will be unavailable at Molineux Stadium. Martins’ training preparations have also shown that he will most likely keep the Mady Camara, Andreas Bouchalakis and Guilherme trio in the midfield. This means that Kostas Fortounis will most likely be on the outside, looking in during Thursday’s game. Youssef El-Arabi and Mathieu Valbuena will also have their starting spots guaranteed. The only big question mark for the starting line-up is if Martins decides to start Lazar Randjelovic or Giannis Masouras.
A Future Full of Question Marks
It’s hard to hide the elephant in the room when it comes to many of these players’ future in Piraeus. Sa’s name had been heard around the transfer rumors before his injury. Elabdellaoui is also as good as gone. The Norwegian right-back has been with the club since 2014 but looks like he is heading to Turkey. Left-back Tsimikas is garnering interest from some big clubs from Italy and England. Finally, there has been a rumor that Semedo is heading to Benfica.
With so many question marks, this Olympiacos team might look very different come next season which, funnily enough, is less than a month away. The nucleus this team has built over the past two years might be split and new blood will be added to the mix.
This core group of players, a group that has arguably given us the greatest season in Olympiacos history, still has one more act. Their resiliency has been unmatched, and the family atmosphere that has been created in the locker room may never be duplicated. It’s their chance to go out this Thursday and give it all they have – for the fans, for their future, for a trophy. Most importantly, for that badge on their chest.
