UEFA Champions League

[Dean97]

Is it true that Koutris is not even in the squad against Spurs?

[Don Giovanni]

It looks like Kamara may get the start over Bouchalakis for the match against Tottenham.

[Don Giovanni]

I saw the 4-0 win live. Bouchalakis looked like he was playing at the intensity of a super league game, not a UCL game. Bouchalakis was mostly second to the ball and did nothing to settle the ball for OSFP. Valbuena did everything. Masouras passed the ball backwards nearly every time he got a touch of it. Would not play it to Tsimikas when the pass was on. These two need to play better at this level. Tsimikas was the standout of the Greeks. He hustled and defended well. He got forward when needed and added width. He reminds me a lot of Bakakis, loads of energy, but does he have enough quality there to suggest he will get better in time? Only time can tell, but I was happy with him.

Valbuena was difference maker on the field. He and the Serb that came on for Masouras were the best players on the pitch. The first goal was really the doing of Gate 7 and Valbuena. The work he does to connect the play allowed OSFP to find the space that resulted in the efforts on goal that led to the opener. Guerrero did well to take the shot, but it was clear Gate 7 traumatized the keeper. Almost anything OSFP could have put on the net would have gone in. Once the Serb took the pitch, he just ran to the net and took shots. The goalie for Krasnodar was intimidated by the crowd. Podence then put the cherry on the cake. The injury to Cabella in the first half had changed the complexion of the game too.

Semedo looked good, but was not smarter than Berg and there was a moment where he got a little caught off guard. I could see he had a problem with his knee after that moment. At the end of the game, he looked like he was trying to do a Muslim prayer, like Meriah and Camara had done, but he got up quickly. The guy is lost. OSFP would do well to sell him at the first opportunity.

[Amorgos]

Big 2-1 win in Russia... well done, good points for Greece, also not often you see a Greek team win both matches against Russian opposition

[Dean97]

Watching the 2nd leg against Krasnodar. We are doing fine but I think we need someone better than Valbuena. Younger and faster. He is doing ok though. We need a few solid signings that’s for sure. If we want to go far that is.

[Val]

Olympiakos is heading in the right direction....fast talented team.

The lessons here is that it can take longer than expected to find your starting 11 and for the work you put in, in training to start to show in games. Now imagine had marinakis let martins go a few months back…This is his work. He has managed to get some good results from a group lacking obvious stars.

[Dean97]

Consistent line-ups breeds confidence. Notice how Martins didn't feel the need to but a left back at CB during any of the games. What is the money Van Shit will try that bizarre experiment?

I have no clue what type of manager he is. He could even surprise us and put out a decent squad. The real bet should be if he will call up Fetfatzidis.

[JVC]

Olympiakos is heading in the right direction....fast talented team.

[Reaper]

It was a great result for us going into the 2nd leg. Liked the assist Bouchalakis gave to Podence. Randjelovic is a gun. I’ve said how good he is before and now producing the goods for us. It’s good how Martins has kept the same team and formation for the past few games.

Consistent line-ups breeds confidence. Notice how Martins didn't feel the need to but a left back at CB during any of the games. What is the money Van Shit will try that bizarre experiment?

[Dean97]

It was a great result for us going into the 2nd leg. Liked the assist Bouchalakis gave to Podence. Randjelovic is a gun. I’ve said how good he is before and now producing the goods for us. It’s good how Martins has kept the same team and formation for the past few games.

[Reaper]

Important result. Turned a few heads in Europe too.

[Val]

Never like to see injuries but you just had a feeling that this was going to be oly’s night when the Russians lost cabella early. Then there was the poster that ended up in the back of the net. To be fair, the keeper was well beaten. In fact, he wasn’t convincing all night. There was an earlier effort from guilherme, where he showed poor handling. Then offcourse on the third goal, he shows poor anticipation and inexperience which affects his positioning. The serb (nice find btw) though, hit it nice and low. Ask any keeper, balls that are not hand level, are a nightmare to deal with. Credit to oly though for testing him from afar.

Prior to the game, you couldn’t help thinking if this Russian side is just a collection of more than a few stars but they have had some good results. Last season, they knocked out Leverkusen and pushed Valencia in the following round. Vilhena though never got going, wanderson showed some enthusiasm at best, whilst berg still seems to be finding his feet.

All martins had to do is keep the pivot ever present in front of the defense and stay narrow and it kept the Russians clueless. If the game against porto proved anything though, it’s that the Russians do pose a threat in transition. Martins though, at least from what I’ve seen from him in Europe, is cautious about how many men he commits forward. On average say 4 attackers in the box. If guilherme moves forward, bouchalakis moves backwards, one fullback forward, the other staying back to cover. Stuff like this though it requires discipline so credit to his players, not to mention their ruthlessness in taking the chances they were presented. The Russians gambled in pursuit of the away goal and left some space in behind though the glaring issue was the poor protection in front of the centre halves.

[Soprano76]

Not to mention much needed coefficient points.

If things play as they should: Oly and PAOK advance, APOEL drops to Europa and Apollon gets eliminated then Greece will jump them. If AEK can get past Trapezounta-spor then we can do even more damage.

[Amorgos]

A massive 4-0 win... and €30 odd million coming with it.

Randelovic with two goals. Valbuena hitting form, great assist from him on one goal and Bouchalakis on the 4th too

[Reaper]