Hellas Football

The rise of Levadiakos By Stephen Kountourou The Greek Super League has had a few surprise package clubs in recent years.  Teams with less pedigree than the giants of the Greek game, who, despite having far more limited resources, can cobble together a strong core of Greek and foreign players and a pragmatic manager with a functional style of play that can put everything together and finish higher up the table than most would expect them to on face value.  The likes of PAS Giannina, Lamia, Volos and Panserraikos have all caused shock results, played some entertaining and competitive football and not been afraid to take on teams with bigger budgets and better quality players.  It is a breath of fresh air from a time when it felt like the majority of teams in the Greek topflight, outside of the big four and Aris, would resort to defensive anti-football with ten men behind the ball from kick off to full time. Currently, the team that optimises this new trend is Levadiakos. U...

 Olympiakos vs PSV Eindhoven:  UEFA Champions League matchday four preview By Stephen Kountourou UEFA Champions League League Phase Matchday Four Kick-off Time: 22:00 Greek Time Venue: Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium Where to Watch: Cosmote Sport 2 HD It is hard to put into words exactly what to think about Olympiakos’s UEFA Champions League campaign thus far. In some ways, the performances have been spirited; certain decisions that have gone against the Greek champions have ranged from unfortunate to downright egregious, and their points tally as we enter the midway point of the League Phase is probably not a true reflection of how competitive they have been, especially against better opposition at times.  On the other hand, however, the first match against Pafos FC, as I will continue to reiterate, was a huge missed opportunity, despite a spirited performance against Arsenal; early mistakes ultimately cost them, and the same can be said to a lesser extent against Barc...

 FC Barcelona vs Olympiakos:  UEFA Champions League Matchday three preview By Stephen Kountourou UEFA Champions League League Phase Matchday Three Kick-off Time: 19:45 Greek Time Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Spain Where to Watch: Cosmote Sport 2 HD Two matches into this season's UEFA Champions League campaign, and Olympiakos do not have a huge amount to show for it. Maybe that is a harsh starting line of this preview, but that is my personal opinion. Not to say that the players have performed badly or that Jose Luis Mendilibar hasn’t set up his team correctly, or to not go out and win.  But it already feels, now that Thrylos are on the verge of facing one of the biggest hitters on the European stage, where it will be hard to get a result, that there has been a real missed opportunity to accrue more points than they have to push for a place in the playoffs. The biggest blow was, of course, the opening game when ten men Pafos FC starved Olympiakos of opportuni...

Ivan Jovanovic's squad decisions By Christian Leggas After Greece flushed their 2026 World Cup qualifying hopes down the toilet, many areas of  this team need fixing, which probably came as a big shock to most of the fan base, with one  area being the integration of more youth into the team. It's not like Jovanović hasn't listened to the fans' prayers in this regard during his tenure so  far. He played a big part in convincing young prospects Christos Zafeiris and Konstantinos  Karetsas to turn down Norway and Belgium, respectively, in favour of the Ethniki. Christos  Tzolis has a mortgage on the left-wing position; he rewarded Konstantinos Tzolakis with a  stint as first-choice goalkeeper, Konstantinos Koulierakis is one of our first-choice centre-backs, Georgios Vagiannidis looks trusted with the number one role at right-back, and, albeit  perhaps not as frequently as some would've liked, Jovanović has given more chances to  Giannis Konstantelia...

 Report: Scotland 3-1 Greece By Alec McQuarrie Over an hour before kick-off and the recriminations have already begun. Essentially, supporters are getting their bets in early to claim their winnings at the final whistle with a smug: “I told you so! X should never have started. Why the fuck was Y on the bench? Z has no idea what he’s doing.” For some, the post-match dissection is the main course, and it is served ever so delicious if you predicted the loss before it happened. Even better if you can foresee the culpable parties. It is Greek pessimism at its finest. I even think certain fans are pleased when defeat is dished up, pleased to be proved right. For others, it is protection, plain and simple. When the hurt stretches back 11 years, hope is a hard sell. Hope has been ground down to a fine dust by repeated failures and disappointments, disasters and frustrations, each one more retrospectively predictable than the last. Some fans don’t want the hope. The hope hurts. It always d...

AEL: Back to Square One  By Michael_Vissini It’s been less than 24 hours since the club have sacked Giorgos Petrakis courtesy of  the heavy 2-5 home loss to Volos that was met with strong jeering from AEL fans  during and after the match. The right decision was made to let go of the 37 year old  and I wish him nothing but the best wherever he goes for the young coach. There lies the problem – young. I’m not here to deconstruct Petrakis coaching style  but his inexperience in the Greek top flight was exposed in the litmus test against  Volos. Credit to Volos who were simply outstanding from start to finish and never  stepped out of gear. Even after scoring their fifth, they were still piling on the misery  for AEL and were left with no answer. The problem mostly lies what happened during the summer and the club's purposes  it undertook in order to stay afloat in the Super League. Dating back to the summer, the coaching position was left vacant...

  Arsenal vs Olympiakos:  UEFA Champions League Matchday Two preview By Stephen Kountourou UEFA Champions League League Phase Matchday Two Kick-off Time: 22:00 Greek Time Venue: Emirates Stadium, London Where to Watch: Cosmote Sport 2 HD Some things in life are guaranteed. Death, taxes and Olympiakos drawing Premier League side Arsenal in Europe.  Over the last 15 years, Thrylos have had many memorable matches against the Gunners. Mitroglou’s curling effort in Karaiskaki, the first ever win away against a Premier League side, Giroud's hat-trick, and of course the last-minute winner from Yuessef El Arabi, just to name a few.   Both sides currently have an even win-to-loss record against each other at the time of writing. But due to the format change from the group stages to the league phase, where two teams only play each other once before the knockout stages, that record, unless the full-time result is a draw, could very likely come to an end. After a disappoint...