Olympiakos vs Ludogorets: UCL 3rd Qualifying First Leg Preview
UCL 3rd Qualifying First Leg Preview
By Stephen Kountourou
One round of qualifying down, two more to go before the group stage of the Champions League. It was certainly a rollercoaster of emotions for supporters of Olympiakos as they watched their team struggle through the hardships of covid19 case and injuries to overcome the challenge of Neftchi Baku. With a slim 1-0 victory in Piraeus, Thrylos travelled to Baku for the return leg to put the tie to bed. With his limited resources, Pedro Martins rallied his team using the 3-4-3 and claimed a second 1-0 victory thanks to an early goal from Giorgos Masouras.
With an improved performance Olympiakos now face a slightly tougher opponent in Bulgarian champions Ludogorets. Once again the first leg will be played in Piraeus in front of the Erythrolefki faithful for the chance to put one foot into the playoffs and another step closer to the promised land. This week’s blog is another Preview of the first leg tie between the two sides, with a focus on how the Ludogorets reached this stage of the competition, the competitive record against Greek and Bulgarian opposition and any injuries and suspensions before a prediction from yours truly.
Qualification for the Champions League
The Bulgarian side, after a mixed start to their 2020/21 campaign, improved their form and cemented themselves in the top spot. They would go on to retain the Bulgarian League title as well as making it their tenth league trophy. This also meant that Ludogorets qualified for the first round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, although after some readjustments due to other team performances in their domestic leagues, the club moved up to the second qualifying round.
The Eagles were drawn to play Slovenian side Mura with the first leg to be played away from home for the Bulgarians. After the game in Slovenia ended all square in a 0-0 draw, the second leg in Razgrad was a much more eventful affair with Ludogorets running out 3-1 winners in front of their home fans.
Head to Head Record
This will be the first encounter between both Olympiakos and Ludogorets as well as the first Greek opponent the Bulgarians have ever faced. Thrylos have faced off against opponents from their Balkan neighbours in the past.
The very first time in a competition that Greek and Bulgarian clubs played one another was in the Balkans Cup final tie between Olympiakos and Levski Sofia. After the two legged final finished all square on aggregate a third final was played at a neutral venue where Olympiakos were victorious and claimed the Balkans Cup.
The first official bout between Erthyrolefki and Bulgarian clubs in UEFA competitions came back in the European Cup First Round when Olympiakos faced off against CSKA Cherveno Zname, now known as CSKA Sofia. After a 1-0 victory in Piraeus, Thrylos were well beaten 3-1 away in Sofia with CKSA qualifying for the next round at their expense.
After a 12 year gap, Thrylos would face Levski Sofia during the 1978/79 edition of the UEFA Cup. Levski got their long awaited revenge for the Balkans Cup, and despite winning again in Piraeus 2-1 it was the away leg that would ultimately be Olympiakos undoing again in a 3-1 defeat in extra time, and they were knocked out of the First Round.
After a lengthy gap Thrylos were drawn against Botev Plovdiv during the first round of the 1993/94 UEFA Cup. This was certainly Olympiakos most dominant performance against Bulgarian opposition as they won both legs, first 2-3 away in Plovdiv and in a 5-1 demolition in Piraeus to reach the next round.
The last and most recent face off against a side from Bulgaria came two seasons later in the UEFA Cup 1995/96 preliminary round against Slavia Sofia. The tie resulted IN an Olympiakos victory overall with a 0-2 victory in the Bulgarian capital followed by a 1-0 win to take themselves to ue UEFA Cup First Round proper.
After 8 matches played against Bulgarian clubs, Erthyrolefki holds a very solid record with 6 wins, no draws, 2 losses and a 6+ goal difference with 16 scored, 10 conceded. That's an average of two goals per game. This will also be the first time Olympiakos has faced a Bulgarian team in 26 years.
Injuries and Suspensions
The club received a huge boost this weekend with the vast majority of players returning from injury or covid self isolation. Mady Camara will also return from suspension. Other than the more long term players out being Kostas Fortounis and Tiquinho Soares, Andreas Bouchalakis and Aguibou Camara will also be unavailable with more minor injury problems.
Prediction
This will definitely serve as a more next level challenge for the Greek Champions compared to Neftchi Baku. Ludogorets have more experience reaching the group stages of major competitions compared to Olympiakos previous opponents. They have already started their domestic campaign as well so there is a possibility of more match sharpness from the Bulgarians.
While I personally believe Thrylos are still the favourites on paper there are one or two players in the Bulgarian Champions squad that could cause some problems if given the opportunity, namely Cypriot international Pieros Sotiriou.
The former APOEL striker was a terror for Erthyrolefki when they last faced APOEL during the 2016/17 Europa League group stages where the Cypriot side defeated their Greek opponent both home and away.
While Sotiriou is inconsistent at times Thrylos will not want to have history repeat itself against a forward who has scored against them in their recent past.
Despite this however I do believe that Olympiakos will have the edge in the first leg as it's in front of a packed Karaiskakis Stadium. I predict that it will be a slow start from both sides with a full strength side at Pedro Martins disposal Olympiakos will run out 2-0 winners in Piraeus.
Hellas Football
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