Fenerbahce vs Olympiakos: UEFA Conference League Quarter-Finals Second Leg Preview

 Fenerbahce vs Olympiakos: UEFA Conference League Quarter-Finals Second Leg Preview


By Stephen Kountourou



UEFA Conference League Quarter-Final Second Leg: 16/04/24


Kick-off Time: 22:00 Greek Time


Venue: Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium 


Where to Watch: Cosmote Sport 4 HD



The almost great victory in Piraeus


Olympiakos ran out 3-2 winners in front of a raucous Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Kostas Fortounis opened the scoring with the goal of the round after a mistake from the Febahce defence, allowing the Thrylos captain to put the home side ahead. cruisingJovetic continued his rich vein of form with a second just after the half-hour mark. After Chiqunho made it 3-0 in the second half, Thrylos were cruising. 


However, a poor mistake from Panagiotis Retsos gave the away side a lifeline penalty, which was slotted home by Dusan Tadic. With a way back into the tie, Fenerbahce took advantage of Olympiakos losing control of the match and lowered the deficit further through İrfan Kahveci's header to make it 3-2. 


Mendilibar’s men managed to slow the game's tempo back into their favour with a flurry of late chances but were unable to regain the goal cushion they had lost. Despite another famous European night in Piraeus, Olympiakos will be rueing the conceded goals which has made the trip to Turkey that much harder, in their bid to reach the Conference League semi-finals.


Don't Blink! 


Olympiakos is on the precipice of something great. After achieving their first major quarter-final win in their history at home, Thrylos will travel to Turkey and an atmosphere that will be tougher than anything they have faced yet this season. 


Fenerbahce, despite being the second-best team in Piraeus, smelt blood towards the end of the game with their two goals, and Thrylos cannot allow themselves to blink first in the face of their opponent, as it could spell the end of what has been a magical European run.


If Jose Luis Mendilibar and his players take the plunge this Thursday, play without fear and perform to the same level as the first 65 minutes of the first leg in Karaiskaki, Olympiakos can reach their first semi-finals in their history. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 10 Chants in Greek Football

Image
Top 10 Chants in Greek Football By Nick Tsambouniaris, Greek ultras are known around the world for their passionate support. Atmospheres at games are electric to say the least as fans act as the 12 th man for their team. Here are my top 10 chants in Greek football with a hyperlink to the YouTube video of them being belted out in full glory. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN This cheeky party starter aimed at Olympiakos from AEK’s Original 21 makes it as number 10. As you can see in the below link, every single fan is jumping and singing along with purpose, making for a great atmosphere. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN 9. PAOK – IRTHAME SKASTOI APO TIN KLINIKI Gate 4 of PAOK are notoriously known for creating an intimidating atmosphere wherever they go. This particular chant gets extra points for its climax ending when the fans rise from the ground as one jumping all over the place. The chant itself is also funny and sums up the passion of Greek football fans in general as it says they...
Read more

The Current State Of Football On Greece’s Biggest Island - Crete

Image
The Current State Of Football On Greece’s Biggest Island - Crete By Alexander Koutakos On this journey, we have travelled so far to the Greek provinces of Laconia, Messinia and Western Macedonia.  This week, we continue to journey around Greece on Greece’s biggest island (Crete).  Crete is home to the cities/large towns of Heraklion, Chania, Rethymno, Ierapetra and many others. Historically, Crete has been mass producing footballing talent for the Ethniki Omada and for the global footballing world.  The island of Crete itself has produced the footballing talents of Georgios Samaras, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Nikos Machlas, Michalis Sifakis, Petros Marinakis and many others. The “big 4” teams in Crete at the moment are OFI , Ergotelis, Chania and OF Ierapetra. In this article, I will be going over the current situation for each of the four aforementioned Cretan clubs and I will then be going over the current situation of youth development across the entire region. The Current S...
Read more

The Importance of Being Ange

Image
 The Importance of Being Ange By Stephen Kountourou It was the 26th of March 2023. Antonio Conte had left Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur by mutual consent and, with the club and supporters uncertain of who would be the Italian manager's long-term successor.  Speaking to my dad, a long-time Spurs fan, who was rather bemused with his team's performances and the lack of direction of the club, the first manager that I told him could be a good fit, was Ange Postecoglou.  The Greek-Australian manager was in the middle of a historical treble-winning season with Celtic. Despite my dad's scepticism, I insisted that Ange could be the man to bring an attractive attacking style of football that Lillywhite's fans had been crying out for since the departure of Mauricio Pochetino, which would in turn improve the fortunes of a club that was in decline. Lo and behold, Three months later, on the 9th of June Ange was announced as the new manager of Spurs, becoming the first Austral...
Read more