Arcadian assignment tops Olympiacos’ 2009 agenda

By: Peter Katsiris | January 3rd, 2009

Olympiacos kicks off the New Year and the second half of the Super League season with a trip South to Tripoli for a meeting with Asteras Tripolis on Saturday. With Greece’s two-week winter break now coming to an end, the Greek Champions will be looking to extend their six point lead atop the league table with a win on Saturday. Despite the firepower within Ernesto Valverde’s side, Olympiacos will be cautious of their hosts – especially with Asteras being known for its ability to pull of shock upsets against Greece’s top clubs.

Although the calendar has seen a change, the objective of excelling from game-to-game is still the priority for the ‘Erythrolefki’. The final few fixtures of 2008 were compiled with mixed fortunes for the table toppers, as a 4-0 defeat of Hertha Berlin in the UEFA Cup was followed only by a 1-0 home win over Thrasyvoulos.

Surely road troubles have been the only the problem for the Piraeus giants, as Olympiacos has only dropped points away from the Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium. Nonetheless, Olympiacos has suffered just one loss this season and is undefeated in its last eight matches in Greece.

Despite the winter break, there has been plenty of drama within the Olympiacos ranks to cause distraction. From the passing of legendary player Achilleas Grammitikopoulos on Tuesday, to the emotional scuffle between defenders Raul Bravo and Vasilis Torosidis, the holidays haven’t been as quiet as one might think – not to mention all the transfer rumors.

With that being said, there are plenty of impact players to give Olympiacos a commanding edge in Tripoli on Saturday. There is plenty of relief over the health of Brazilian striker Diogo, who missed the match against Thrasyvoulos with a strain picked up a few days earlier against Hertha Berlin. Also returning to the squad is Michal Zewlakow, and the Poland international could make an appearance in the ‘Erythrolefki’ backline.

Aside from long-time injured midfielder Ieroklis Stoltidis, only two other setbacks plague Spanish tacticitian Valverde. Leonardo and Kostas Mitroglou are closing in on a return to full fitness, but will not be ready in time for kickoff this weekend.

Critics might not cut Asteras any slack heading into the first match after the winter interval, but the Peloponnesian club has reason to argue such a case. Four fixtures against the league’s top four clubs nearly saw Asteras tally four victories away from home in the first half of the season. Many would argue Asteras was unfortunate not to collect maximum points against Olympiacos at Karaiskaki (lost 2-1), AEK and Panathinaikos at OAKA (lost 2-1 and tied 1-1), and PAOK at Toumba (tied 1-1). With home soil now in Asteras’ favour, the task of trampling Greece’s finest may not be so daunting.

2008 came to a bitter end for one of the Super League dark horses, yet optimism is sky high heading into the climactic encounter with Olympiacos on Saturday. With transfer activity buzzing in and around Tripoli, manager Nikos Kostenoglou has played a part in securing the services of Efstathios Rokas from Thrasyoulos. The newest member of Asteras, however, will likely not make his Tripolis debut this weekend and will join new teammates Jean Carlos (injured), and Israel Damonte (suspended) on the sidelines.

With only three matches played between the clubs, the contest is surely wide open as a spilt all-time record of 1-1-1 leaves little room for judgement. As Olympiacos attempts to halt a terrible road streak with a decent victory to start the new year, the feat that Olympiacos has struggled away from Piraeus gives Asteras hope for an encore presentation of their 1-0 triumph from a year ago.