Frankfurt vs Olympiakos: Europa League Match Day 3 Preview

Frankfurt vs Olympiakos: 

Europa League Match Day 3 Preview

By Stephen Kountourou 

As another International break wraps up, it is time to once again focus on club football, and particularly for me writing this blog, European competition. The groups of all the major UEFA tournaments are starting to take shape now as we enter the halfway stage and sides who have started well will want to continue with their good momentum and qualify for the knockout round of their respective competition. Supporters of Greek champions Olympiakos will be particularly excited, with Thrylos sitting top of Group D with 6 points after 2 victories over Antwerp and Fenerbahce respectively. 

Pedro Martins' men, however, now face probably the biggest test of their European campaign so far. They now have to compete in a doubleheader in Match Day 3 and 4 against 2nd place Frankfurt, which could make or break Thrylos aspirations of finishing top of their group. Arguably the harder of the two games against the German side comes first in this Thursday’s away trip to the Deutsche Bank Park, but if Olympiakos wish to replicate their success on the road in their last match in Turkey, they will have to work just as hard to stave the attack of a well oiled and extremely organised German side. 

So for this week, it’s a preview nailbiter as Olympiakos take Eintracht Frankfurt in a top of the group clash on Match Day 3. As usual, I will be looking back briefly on both sides' league results from the weekend, a fun filled comparison of both teams' records against German and Greek clubs before the hopefully small injury and suspension list for Olympiakos and an unbiased prediction which I won’t get right. 

League Performances 

Olympiakos 

Thrylos returned from the international break with the tough task of overcoming high flying PAS Giannina on the road. After a 0-0 draw against rivals Panathinaikos a couple of weeks prior and with both PAOK and Volos drawing against each other, it was integral that Pedro Martins' men capitalised and won to get back top of the table.

The first half started according to plan and Olympiakos took the lead at the 15 minute mark. Masouras, with a well taken cross, found the head of Cisse who connected with the ball and it went into the path of Aguibou Camara. The Guinean fired it past the keeper impressively to make it 0-1 to the visiting side. After going ahead Thrylos attempted to double their lead with PAS to their credit pushing for an equaliser but being frustrated by the unwavering defence of Cisse and Sokratis.

After the break, Martins made some changes in an attempt to keep control of the match, with Onyekuru making way for the return of Yann M’Vila after a period on the sidelines with an injury and the formation changed from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3. Early on the Erythrolefki came close to doubling their lead with Bouchalakis attempting a shot from just outside the box which was palmed wide by the keeper resulting in a corner. Minutes later a cross from Kenny Lala narrowly missed the head of both Tiquinho and Aguibou as Olympiakos continued to pressure. 

As the hour mark approached PAS countered and a low cross was unfortunately blocked by the hand of Oleg in an attempt to slide into the oncoming cross and a penalty was given against the Greek champions. Rodrigo Erramuspe stepped up and slotted it home from the spot and brought the match level at 1-1. Minutes later Martins made another change with Bouchalakis coming off for El Arabi to change the set up once more to a 4-4-2 in an attempt to retake the lead. As the game entered the last 20 minutes Masouras again expertly crossed the ball into the PAS box and Sokratis unluckily hit the post from his ensuing header. 

After a double change of Aguibou and Masouras for Valbuena and Gary Rodrigues respectively, the French veteran crossed in a set piece from just outside the box. Yann M’Vila just managed to keep the ball in play and in doing so passed the ball to El Arabi in the right place at the right time to put the ball into the back of the net and make it 1-2 late on in the second half for Olympiakos. After that, the match ended in a much needed victory on the road for the champions and Thrylos returned to the top of the Greek Super League table ahead of a tough task in Frankfurt on Thursday   

Frankfurt

After a hugely impressive 1-2 away victory against Bayern Munich before the international break, Frankfurt returned to league action by hosting Hertha. After a mixed start to their league campaign, the Eagles hoped to get only their second win of the season against the side from the capital. It was not to be the case, however. Within the first ten minutes, Hertha Berlin took the lead through Marco Richter to make it 0-1. Frankfurt seemed to struggle for much of the first half and went into the break still a goal down against the visitors. 

There was a slight improvement from the hosts after the second half began as they attempted to level proceedings, but just past the hour mark, Hertha struck again. After a well timed counterattack, substitute Jurgen Ekkelenkamp scored with his first touch to double the away side's lead. Former Olympiakos loanee Gonçalo Paciência was able to pull one back for Frankfurt via a penalty late on. But it was too little too late and Oliver Glasner's side continued their mixed start to the Bundesliga campaign.

Previous Records of Both Sides 

Olympiakos 

Thrylos first encountered a German side during the 1980/81 edition of the European Cup against Bavarian giants Bayern Munich. Unsurprisingly Olympiakos lost both legs of their First Round tie, with a valiant 2-4 defeat in Piraeus before a 3-0 loss away to be dumped out of Europe early. A mere two seasons later, Thrylos drew Hamburger SV in the second round of the same competition. Sadly however the two legs against the Germans were just as decisive as Erythrolefki lost 0-2 at home and 4-0 away to continue the Piraeus side losing streak against German clubs.

It would not be until the new millennium when Olympiakos would play a Bundesliga club once more, this time it was Bayer Leverkusen in the group stages of the 2002/03 Champions League. Finally, Thrylos were able to find their first victory against a German side, with a huge 6-2 victory in Greece, although they would also lose the away match 2-0, and overall finishing bottom of their group. Five seasons later during the 2007/08 UCL group stages, the Greek champions found themselves drawn against Werder Bremen. This would be the only time over both home and away games that Thrylos was able to claim victory in both matches in a 3-0 win in Piraeus and an equally impressive 1-3 away victory in Bremen.

The very next season would see Thrylos being drawn in a UEFA Cup group containing Hertha Berlin. In the only match the two sides played, it was the Erythrolefki that came out victorious in a 4-0 win. Back in the Champions League for the 2011/12 campaign, Olympiakos drew with giants Borussia Dortmund. In probably the most impressive result against the side managed by Jurgen Klopp, Thrylos defeated the then German champions 3-1 in Piraeus. Away in Germany however it was a more typical 1-0 loss for the travelling side. In the very next European campaign, Dortmunds rivals Schalke 04 were the next Bundesliga side to be drawn to play the Greek champions. Sadly there would be no positives to take from either encounter as Olympiakos lost both games, 1-2 at home followed by a 1-0 defeat on the road. 

The last two times that Olympiakos drew a side from Germany ironically in both cases would be the titans of the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich. The first of these two came during the 2015/16 campaign. Both home and away the Erythrolefki were completely outclassed, losing 0-3 in Karaiskakis and 4-0 in Bavaria. The most recent pairing with Bayern came two seasons ago in 2019/20. Pedro Martins' men were unable to get any points against Super Bayern, but they did run them close in a narrow 2-3 loss in Piraeus, which was the closest any side in the UCL came to defeating the eventual European champions. Away however it was a more routine defeat for Thrylos and a comfortable win for the German Champions.

To summarise, Olympiakos have a pretty long record against a side from Germany in European competition. Overall Thrylos record stands at 15 matches played 5 wins, no draws and 10 losses at a win rate of just 33.3%. The goal difference stands at -7 with 22 goals scored to 29 conceded. 

Frankfurt

Eintracht has had far fewer encounters with Greek opposition in comparison to Olympiakos with German sides. This Thursday’s match will be the first time the Bundesliga side will play a Southern Greek team. PAOK would be Frankfurt's first Greek opponent during the 1981/82 edition of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. After both matches ended 2-0 to either home side the tie was all square and it went to penalties. It would be Frankfurt who came out victorious winning the shoot out 5-4 and progressing to the Second Round.

The most recent Greek team to face the German side strangely came up against another Thessaloniki team Iraklis, during the now defunct Intertoto Cup in 1995. Eintracht went on to demolish them 5-1. Overall, in their infinitely smaller record, Frankfurt's record against Greek opponents stands at 3 matches played, 2 wins, no draws and 1 loss making that a 60% win percentage. The goal difference is also pretty decent, with 7 goals scored, 3 goals against with a goal difference of +4.   

Injuries and Suspensions

At the time of writing, there are no new injuries or suspended players going into this Europa League tie, with Yann M’Vila seemingly fully fit and will likely start against Frankfurt.

Prediction 

As always this is a very tough one to call as Frankfurt have been inconsistent this season when looking at who they have beaten and who they have lost against. Travelling away to Germany has been a tough task for Olympiakos in more recent campaigns but there is an opportunity to change that. Martins has an almost fully fit squad at his disposal and if he approaches this fixture in a similar way to Fenerbahce a few weeks ago, Thrylos can certainly get a positive result from this match and indeed the next one in Piraeus. What the team has to do is maintain the level of concentration from start to finish that they showed in Turkey. 

Frankfurt, despite their form, still have a very decent side and have individuals who can certainly hurt a lapsed Olympiakos defence if the Greek champions are not careful. I believe that this will prove a much tougher fixture than a way to Fener but there is every chance the team pulls out all the stops and wins the third match in a row, almost certainly putting them in a pole position to finish in the top two of the group D. 

I will cautiously predict that it will be a 1-1 draw away at Frankfurt. 

Hellas Football 

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