After three games without a win, Olympiacos won again last Saturday. They clocked up a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis against tenth-placed Panetolikos with Lorenzo Pirola scoring the opener for the Red and Whites. The fact the centre-back was able to play at all was good news for Olympiacos. Pirola collided with team-mate Panagiotis Retsos in the first half of the 2-0 defeat against the Werkself, suffering a cut to his head that saw him substituted at half-time.
Three days later, the 24-year-old Italian was back in the starting line-up for the league fixture against Panetolikos, with coach José Luis Mendilibar making eight changes compared to the game against Bayer 04. Apart from Pirola, only goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis and forward Mehdi Taremi remained in the starting line-up. A number of key players such as defenders Retsos and Francisco Ortega, midfielders Santiago Hezze and Christos Mouzakitis and forwards Gelson Martins and Ayoub El Kaabi were initially on the bench. Others, such as wing-back Rodinei and striker Daniel Podence, were not even in the squad.
The second goal for the clearly dominant hosts was scored by substitute Yusuf Yazici shortly before the final whistle. "We should have sealed the win much earlier because we had plenty of opportunities," said Mendilibar after the match. The coach believes his team's biggest shortcoming at the moment is taking chances: "It's a good sign we're creating a lot of chances, but we need to be more precise with our finishing."
With the 2-0 win against Panetolikos, Olympiacos remain in second place in the Greek Super League behind leaders AEK Athens. However, the gap to their city rivals is only two points. Olympiacos therefore still have every chance of defending their title from last season with four games to play before the start of the Super League play-offs.
Mendilibar is cautious about their situation in the Champions League after the 2-0 defeat in the first leg against the Werkself: "After the defeat against a strong team, qualifying for the Round of 16 will obviously be difficult. We have a chance, but only a small one," said the Olympiacos coach, looking ahead to the second leg in Leverkusen. "Unfortunately, we conceded the second goal at home within a short space of time before we were able to respond to the first. And after that, we didn't manage to score the goal that could have changed our prospects for the second leg. It was a game that ultimately went completely against us." Patrik Schick scored both goals for the Werkself in Athens with a brace within 144 seconds.
Olympiacos are now under pressure in the second leg. Their ability to handle pressure has been evident several times in the current Champions League campaign. The Red and Whites are one of the strongest pressing teams in the UCL. They showed just how dangerous they can be away from home in their 2-1 win at Ajax on the last matchday in the league phase.
The Greek record champions will undoubtedly bring a high level of intensity to the BayArena on Tuesday, when many of the regulars who were rested last weekend will return to the starting eleven.
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