More than just pride on the line in Piraeus

By: Peter Katsiris | December 18th, 2008

Olympiacos and Hertha Berlin will be fighting for bronze in UEFA Cup Group B on Thursday night, but Olympiacos will be hoping for more than a silver lining on the same night the Greek Champions celebrate their Golden Jubilee in the tournament. Fifty matches in UEFA’s inferior tournament is not much of a milestone for a club of Olympiacos’ stature; however, the stakes, which include a ticket into the next round of the tournament, make the encounter much more important.

Pressure on Piraeus Giants
Olympiacos will be looking to clinch a berth in the next round, and hold the advantage heading into Thursday’s encounter as anything but a loss against their German opponents will send them into the first knockout round. With the support of, what is expected to be, a sell-out Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium, Olympiacos will be keen to put their advantage to good use.

Supporters of ‘O Thrylos’ may be a little nervy heading into the club’s clash with Hertha Berlin, as recent results haven’t been convincing, After punishing Benfica in a 5-1 win in Piraeus, the Greeks continued their dominant style of play to beat Panionios by a 4-1 margin. Three days later, and the sweet memories of victory were erased by a 1-0 loss to Metalist Kharkiv in Ukraine. Two weeks later, and the club finds itself in a perplexing scenario with their European hopes on the line.

Since the ‘frostbitten’ evening in Kharkiv, Olympiacos has failed to return to its five-star stature which blew out the likes of Benfica and Panionios in the span of four days. Instead Olympiacos was barely able to achieve a 1-0 win over Super League minnows Levadeiakos, and for further frustration, Olympiacos was held by a stubborn Larissa side this past weekend.

The slipup at the Alkazar Stadium on Saturday still wasn’t enough for top spot to be overtaken by fellow Super League rivals, but Olympiacos’ season-long pursuers PAOK closed the gap atop the standings to just four points.

Despite many regulars absent in their recent domestic endeavours, Olympiacos will be near full health for this match. The main concern was inspirational midfielder Luciano Galletti, who was missed dearly over the weekend. The Argentine has since recovered from an injury which sidelined him for the club’s trip to Thessaly. Paraskevas Antzas also recovered, but the former Greece international serves a one-match suspension for consecutive bookings. Leonardo was ruled out for fifteen more days earlier this week, as the Brazilian joins Ieroklis Stoltidis on the injured list.

Olympiacos is aware it is time to get back on track. With plenty of pressure on manager Ernesto Valverde, the Greek Champions are keen to erase their recent slump streak with a memorable win against their German opponents.

Is Hertha Hurting?
Although their intentions are innocent, Olympiacos could easily end up on the wrong side of Thursday night’s score-line. Hertha doesn’t enjoy the same table-topping success Olympiacos does year after year, so a third place rank heading into the long German winter break is something to be cheerful about.

The Olympiastadion has had plenty to cheer about this season, as the capital club has gone from a tenth place finish last year to just two points behind joint leader TSG Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich. Lucien Favre, a late managerial addition to the Berlin club last season, has continued to perfect his touchline presence with Hertha and looks to be steering a Bundesliga revelation to success at a comfortable pace.

The Hertha attack has not been the most convincing this year, and a wave of absences ahead of Thursday night’s make-or-break match could see the German side stumble yet again.

Marko Pantelic, who has been the center of several transfer scenarios away from Berlin, will be the main route of attack for Hertha. His goal scoring, however, is not the main issue at hand for the club as the Serbian talisman has been involved in a long on-going dispute with Favre.

Among the injuries troubling one half of the knockout round hopefuls are Andriy Voronin who has not recovered from the flu), while Gojko Kacar is out due to a knee injury. In addition, Josip Simounic remains doubtful but travelled to Greece, and at the most could make an appearance as a substitute.

Though their Bundesliga campaign has been successful, the Berlin-based side has yet to win a group stage yet, playing to a draw against Benfica and Metalist Kharkiv and falling 1-0 to Galatasaray; ironically, one win is all they need.

As Greece heads into a general strike across the nation on Thursday, the port city of Piraeus will be hopeful Olympiacos returns to their regular duties. Success will be the only tonic for a demanding environment keen to see their club reach the knockout rounds. The Piraeus giants will look to their supporters for inspiration in their bid to deliver Christmas cheer to a city begging for European success.