Atalanta vs Olympiakos: UEL Playoff 1st Leg Preview

Atalanta vs Olympiakos: 

UEL Playoff 1st Leg Preview

By Stephen Kountourou 

It's that time again! European club competition is back for 2022 and there are certainly some tasty ties coming up this week. Time to see which team can put one foot into the next round of their respective tournaments and which will be on the verge of bowing out for another season. Olympiakos supporters, despite their opposition being Serie A side Atalanta will be quietly confident going into this Europa League tie. 

Despite being most peoples favourites to progress to the Round of 16, the Italian side managed, by Gian Piero Gasperini, have had some mixed form going into the new year and with Thrylos in the last month continuing their undefeated run with a watertight defence and a new burst of creativity, it certainly makes for a compelling match up. So without further ado, it's time for another European preview. 

Recent Form

Olympiakos

Thrylos, have looked a much more exciting prospect during the last five games going into this titanic tie compared to the side's inconsistent start to 2022. After a cagey 1-1 draw in the derby against PAOK, February began with a much more convincing 3-1 win over high flying Panetolikos with goals coming thick and fast in the first five minutes of the match. This was followed up by a 0-3 win on the road to Piraeus rivals Ionikos and the reverse tie in the Greek cup against Panetolikos again. Olympiakos overturned the tie in extra time to see Pedro Martins' men reach the semi finals against PAOK. 

The 4-2-3-1 returned and the Greek champions looked much more comfortable and free-flowing during the recent period. Despite the quality in most of their opposition, it is how the Piraeus side has won these matches with the team looking more certain of their jobs, finally seeming to find that third gear to win matches convincingly that had been lacking during the first half of the season. 

Olympiakos' latest game came on Sunday in the Athens derby against AEK. Even this match saw for the most part another tightly contested rivalry with both sides having their chance but with not a lot that was clear cut, the exception perhaps being Mady Camara’s shot which rattled off of the crossbar early on. Unlike the recent matches against Panathinaikos and PAOK, Olympiakos were able to take that golden chance given to them and were victorious. An unmarked Yann M’Vila, whose first shot was poorly parried by the keeper, saw his second find the back of the net late on to give his side a slim 1-0 victory to not only keep themselves firmly at arm's length of PAOK in second by 9 points but show the newfound determination of Thrylos going into Europe this week.    

Atalanta

By contrast, the Nerazzurri have had a very poor start to the new year based on form rather than purely performances. With their last victory coming in the Copa Italia against Venezia, Atalanta is winless in five matches with most of those admittedly coming against fairly tough opposition. Two 0-0 draws with Inter Milan and Lazio respectively was followed by a shock 1-2 loss at home to Cagliari and a 2-1 lead to lose 2-3 at home to Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia quarter finals. 

Most recently, the black and blues conceded a late goal in a home match against Juventus to draw 1-1 and fail to win again, albeit against another big side in Serie A. After these dropped points Atalanta as it stands have been pipped to 4th place by the old lady and sit in 5th. This could either be a great chance for Olympiakos to take advantage of their opponent's poor form to take control of this tie or for the Italian side to regain some form and a much needed win to put their faltering season back on track. 

Competitive Record

Olympiakos

Olympiakos have a long history of competing against Italian opposition, although this will be their first encounter against the side from Bergamo. Thrylos' very first official match in UEFA competition came against AC Milan in 1959/60. A 2-2 draw in Piraeus was followed by a 3-1 loss in Italy. From that point, the Piraeus side went toe to toe with Serie A sides a total of 26 times, with 7 victories, 5 draws and 14 losses. The team Olympiakos played against the most was Turin giants Juventus, who Thrylos also played the joint most number of times of any team in Europe, with Premier League side Arsenal in 12 matches. The most recent matchup against a team from Italy came in the 2018/19 edition of the Europa League group stages against AC Milan. In a must-win game to reach the knockout stages, Erythrolefki managed to defeat the Italian giants 3-1 to pipe them to 2nd place in what was one of the most memorable European nights in Piraeus. 

Atalanta

Surprisingly, Atalanta has faced Greek opposition previously. Way back when, in the 1987/88 UEFA Cup Winners Cup, the side from Bergamo was drawn against OFI Crete in the Second Round. Over two legs they narrowly edged past the Cretian side 2-1 on aggregate, after a 2-0 win at home and a 1-0 loss away, to reach the quarterfinals.   

Team News

At the time of writing the only notable absence from the Thrylos squad is Garry Rodrigues. The Cape Verde international sustained a fracture in the recent game against Ionikos. He is due to be out until the end of February and will most likely miss both legs of this tie. 

Conclusion

Even with the poor form of the opposition, Pedro Martins and his squad should not be fooled by the ability of Atalanta. The Greek champions have been burned recently when facing a team in poor form from the top 5 leagues, with Frankfurt from the Bundesliga brushing Thrylos aside to top their UEL group. Olympiakos must learn from the mistakes against the German side and attempt to take full advantage of a Serie A team that, while still talented and plays a very progressive style of football under Gasperini, are in a bit of a rut right now. I would not be surprised to see Martins set up his team in the 3-4-3 again and while there has been a huge outcry to abandon that system, it has seen more success against better quality sides who demand the ball more in Europe than we do. 

It is unlikely that Thrylos will progress past Atalanta if I am being realistic about this tie, but I am still confident of what I have seen in the last month with the blustering of new signings, the improvement in play and the determination of the squad in tough situations. There is potential for an upset. As a prediction for the first leg in Bergamo however, I do believe it will be Atalanta who will take a hold of this tie and win 2-1 at home. 

Olympiakos will take the result back to Piraeus with a glimmer of hope to turn the tie in the second leg. 

Hellas Football 

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