Red and white – not only are the Olympiacos club colours the same as FC Bayern's. The next group opponents in the Champions League can compete with the national success rate of FCB. The Greek record champions provide the opposition for Bayern in the third group match on Tuesday night (kick-off: 21.00 CET).
The two teams have played each other four times with the record of these encounters revealing a clear dominance by FCB with four wins and 14 goals for and just two against. The last time paths crossed in the Champions League was in the group stage in 2015/16. Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller and Kingsley Coman scored in the 4-0 home win and the 3-0 victory in the return match was achieved with a brace from Müller and a goal for Mario Götze. fcbayern.com presents FC Bayern's next opponents.
History
Olympiacos was founded in 1925 after the two clubs 'Piraeus Sports and Football Club' and the 'Football Fan Club of Piraeus' were disbanded. Due to disagreements with the Greek Football Association, the first league season in 1927/28 took place without the team from the port city but they succeeded in lifting their first title three years later. Five further championship wins followed in the next seven years to establish the lasting dominance of the Red and Whites in Greece. Olympiacos have won 44 league titles and 27 domestic cups with 17 doubles along the way. The club is not only successful in football. The basketball team is one of the top European clubs and they have twice won the Euroleague (2012, 2013).
Champions League record
Olympiacos were the first Greek team to play in a European competition back in 1959. The most successful campaign on the European stage came in 1998/99 when they reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Greeks last qualified for the knockout rounds in 2013/14 but went out of the competition losing to Manchester United in the Round of 16. Olympiacos are now playing in Europe's premier club competition for the 19th time and in the all-time table they are in position 18 with 136 points. That puts them ahead of big clubs like Manchester City or Roma.
This season, the team coached by Pedro Martins started in the second qualifying round as league runners-up and progressed without defeat. Wins against Viktoria Plzeň (0-0 away, 4-0 home) and Istanbul Başakşehir FK (1-0 away, 2-0 home) were followed by success in the play-offs against FK Krasnodar (4-0 home, 2-1 away).
However, matchday one brought a false start with Olympiacos initially going two goals down to Tottenham Hotspur. But the Greeks fought back and secured a 2-2 draw. In the second game, Olympiacos gave away a lead and ended up losing 3-1 at Red Star Belgrade.
Stadium
Olympiacos play their home games at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. The ground is in the immediate vicinity of the port and was originally a velodrome that was built for the Olympic Games of 1896. It later became the home of Olympiacos and the new ground built in 2004 has a capacity of 33,300. The stadium, named after a Greek freedom fighter, has proved to be a fortress on the European stage in recent years. Olympiacos are unbeaten in ten European home games (seven wins, three draws). The last defeat on their own turf came on matchday six in the UEFA Champions League in 2017/18 (0-2 against Juventus).
Coach
The Portuguese Pedro Martins (49), who was assistant coach at FC Porto, has been at the helm of the club since July 2018. The former pro, who spent his whole playing career in Portugal making one international appearance, prefers to play his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Key players
Over the summer there was another big turnover in players at Olympiacos with most of the squad coming from abroad. The top goalscorer is a 32-year-old Moroccan: Youssef El Arabi joined on a free in the summer from Qatar on the back of 90 goals in 78 games. The striker has already scored six goals for the Greeks and eleven games as well as providing two assists. However, he is waiting for his first goal in the Champions League. The most well-known new signing is the Frenchman Mathieu Valbuena (34) from Fenerbahçe.
Current situation
Olympiacos are currently top of the Greek league and remain unbeaten after the first seven matches with the team from the port city only drawing one game. Last weekend they picked up a 2-1 home win against OFI from Crete with the Algerian El Arabi Hillel Soudani bagging a brace. Martins rested several key players including Valbuena and top scorer El Arabi.
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