Olympiakos vs Pafos FC: UEFA Champions League Matchday One preview

 Olympiakos vs Pafos FC: 

UEFA Champions League Matchday One preview

By Stephen Kountourou

UEFA Champions League League Phase Matchday One

Kick-off Time: 19:45 Greek Time

Venue: Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus

Where to Watch: Cosmote Sport 2 HD

It's that time again. Every year, I wonder whether this will be the final season in which I preview the exploits of Olympiakos in European competition. Should I go on to bigger, better and more interesting topics? Well, it doesn't get much bigger than the UEFA Champions League. 

For the first time since the 2020/21 season, Thrylos or any Greek team will be competing in Europe's elite continental tournament, and this was an opportunity I knew I had to write about. 

It is also worth noting that Olympiakos became the first Greek side to qualify automatically for the Champions League in exactly ten years, as the club with the best individual coefficient of all the domestic champions involved in qualifying (the domestic champions of the national associations ranked 11th to 55th).

We have discussed on the Hellas Football Podcast about all of the draws for Greece's big four, and there is no denying that José Luis Mendilibar and his players have a tough League Phase campaign on their hands.

Even with the Greek champions going into matchday one as favourites against Champions League debutants Pafos FC in Karaiskaki, there is immediate pressure. 

European giants are lying in wait later down the line, so this is already a must-win situation for Olympiakos if they have any hope of qualifying for at least the playoffs.

The journey of Pafos FC

Formed only 11 years ago, after two clubs, AEP Paphos and AEK Kouklia, voted to combine operations in June 2014, Pafos FC rose from the second tier, and despite relegation in 2015/16, they bounced right back up to the first tier.

The club was acquired by Total Sports Investment in 2017, a London-based firm that provides investment and consulting services across various sports and media, with Hungarian businessman and CEO Roman Dubov also serving as Pafos FC’s chairman. Dubov was also formerly part-owner of Portsmouth FC. Since then, the rise of the Cypriot club has been meteoric. 

They claimed the Cypriot Cup in 2023/24, their first-ever trophy, made their European debut in last season's UEFA Europa League qualifiers before dropping down and competing in the  Conference League League Phase, where they reached the round of 16, and they won their first Cypriot First Division title, which secured them a place in this season's UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

The Cypriot champions went undefeated in their Champions League qualifying campaign, knocking out Maccabi Tel Aviv in the second round, and most impressively, Dynamo Kyiv and Red Star Belgrade, in the third round and playoffs, respectively. 

In doing so, they became the first Cypriot club to qualify for the Champions League for nearly a decade, with APOEL last reaching the old group stages format in 20217/18. As well as Olympiakos, Pafos drew an extremely tough fixture list of Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Monaco, Villarreal, Slavia Praha and Kariat.

Weekend results

Olympiakos returned from the international break with a thumping 5-0 win over lowly Panserraikos to make it three wins from three matches at the start of the season. 

After a goalless first half, in which Gelson Martins was substituted due to an injury and the away side were reduced to ten men, Thrylos immediately responded after the break. 

Ayoub El Kaabi opened the scoring via an Remy Cabella assist. The French veteran doubled his assist tally by supplying Francisco Ortega for his first goal in an Olympiakos shirt.

After being substituted on for his third debut, to rapturous applause from supporters, Daniel Podence announced himself back at the club with a fantastic strike from outside the box to make it 3-0. 

Iranian forward Mehdi Terami also got amongst the goals, scoring Olympiakos’s fourth and fifth and bagging a brace on his debut in the process. 

The Greek champions comfortably saw off the side from Serres in preparation for their Champions League return.

Pafos FC, by contrast, did not have such a positive return to league action, after they lost 0-1 in the Stelios Kyriakides Stadium to Apollon Limassol. 

Despite an end-to-end first half, neither side could break the deadlock. Minutes after the restart, Pafos defender Derrick Luckassen was sent off for a second yellow card offence after fouling former PAOK forward Brandon Thomas. 

Apollon took advantage of having the man advantage and scored seven minutes later. A strike from outside the box cannoned off the crossbar, and the home side failed to clear it, and Gaetan Weissbeck found the back of the net to make it 0-1 to Kyanolefki. 

After a second goal from Weissbeck was ruled out by VAR in the 84th minute, the French midfielder was sent off for kicking out at an opposing player. Although Apollon went down to nine men in added time, with Cypriot international Danilo Spoljaric also being shown a red card, Pafos FC were unable to find a late equaliser.

Competitive record between Olympiakos and Cypriot clubs

When looking at the Greek champions' record against clubs from Cyprus, it is a mixed bag. In 12 encounters, including the likes of APOEL, Omonia, Anorthosis Famagusta and Apollon Limassol, they have won five, drawn four and lost three, with 13 goals scored and 12 conceded. 

The last meeting was against Apollon in the Europa League playoffs. After both legs ended 1-1, they needed penalties to edge past the side from Limassol.

Interview with Thassos Frangeskou

I had the chance to speak to Cypriot football writer and co-host of This is Mappa: Cypriot Football Podcast, Thassos Frangeskou.

It is the first time a Cypriot club has reached the Champions League in nearly a decade, so what are the expectations from Pafos fans, but also Cypriot football fans, of their chances to qualify for the next round?

“I don't think there's any expectations from Pafos fans or Cypriot fans in general for Pafos to go further than this stage, especially with the teams they've been drawn against not only in Olympiacos, but Bayern Munich and Juventus.”

“There are expectations for them to get results against Kairat and maybe Slavia, too. I think anything above that would be a massive bonus.”

It is always a big occasion when a Greek and Cypriot team plays each other. What is the media and fan perspective on this?

“As can be seen from the friendlies that happened this summer between a couple of Greek and Cypriot clubs, it's a big event in Cyprus for a Greek club to come to the island. In the end, the close-knit ties between the countries shows and there is only love for Greek football in Cyprus, but even then, as is the way in Cyprus, if you support the wrong club, there's problems!” 

“The media treat the Super League the same way as they do with the Premier League in England, if not more, reporting on the ins and outs details of the Super League almost as much as the Protathlima!”

What can Olympiakos supporters expect of Pafos FC stylistically, and who are the danger men?

“As for Pafos' style, expect direct counter-attacking football, with the full-backs and wingers doing a lot of the running. Joao Correia is one to keep an eye on in particular, but there is danger all over the place, with Jaja, Orsic, Bruno and other forward players. 

“They are also dangerous at set pieces, as we saw with the goal that took them into the League Stage, and also the corner they scored vs APOEL. We haven't seen much of David Luiz yet, and rightly so; there hasn't been a need to introduce him into the team yet with their performances and results so far this season.”  

“What could affect them is the situation with Tankovic, who was not included in their Champions League Squad and promptly left the club to join Omonia. He was very, very important for them, scoring and assisting in many important goals, so it'll be interesting to see how they get on without him.”

“Pafos seem to pop up with late goals all the time, with their fitness levels very strong and with a stacked bench, so concentration needs to be high.”

“However, despite work on improving the defence (and with David Goldar in the centre being their best player last season, in my opinion), they are prone to mistakes at the back.”

One game in, but already a must-win

Even before a ball has been kicked, a lot of projected Champions League tables have been released, the majority of which predict that Olympiakos will narrowly miss out on the playoffs. Considering some of the giants of the game that Thrylos have to play, in some respects it is understandable. 

This is also why a victory in Piraeus over Pafos FC, a team that will, of course, not be an easy opponent by any means, is an absolute must for the Greek champions. But this team and Mendilibar have beaten the odds before. 

If Olympiakos wish to remain in Europe beyond January, they must take advantage of these rare fixtures where they are build as Goliath before playing in matches where they are very much David with only a slingshot of hope for victory.