Olympiacos looks for answers on Rhodes-trip
By: Peter Katsiris | October 29th, 2008
After a disappointing week, which saw Olympiacos drop key encounters against Galatasaray and Aris FC, the Greek Champions will hope their Greek Cup clash with Diagoros in Rhodes will help ease the discomfort after a painful week for the Piraeus club.
The trip is a familiar one for Olympiacos who faced the same tie in last year’s edition of the Greek Cup. On that night Olympiacos was narrowly victorious thanks to a brace from Konstantinos Mitroglou, canceling out Triantafyllou’s hour-mark penalty.
The same score line could be expected for a shaky Olympiacos, who will be missing several regulars on Wednesday. Injuries have plagued the early start of the season for the Super League leaders, but they have been able to cope thus far. After the two consecutive losses over the past week, it seems the toll from injuries has finally caught up with Olympiacos.
Leading the long list of absentees for at least Wednesday night is Luciano Galletti, who only made a second half appearance against Aris FC on Sunday. The Argentine has been the early candidate from team MVP, acting as the spearhead in Olympiacos push for success domestically and on the European stage. Galletti’s patriot, Fernando Belluschi, is also forced out of the Cup tie as the Argentine looks to rest ahead of the weekend fixture against Ergotelis FC. Leonardo made an appearance on the weekend, but it seems his return to action was premature and the Brazilian has been left off the roster.
Center-back Paraskevas Antzas also joins the mentioned on the sidelines, while the former-Greece international is joined by a current member of the Greek National Team, Christos Patsatzoglou, who has also been left off the 18-man roster. Lastly, Ieroklis Stoltidis continues to battle an injury which has kept him out for several weeks already.
Three regular absentees have also been left off the list of available players, as Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Raul Bravo, and third string keeper Leonidas Panagopoulos have been marked as unavailable.
Despite a long list of absentees several players look to crack the starting line-up for the first time this season. Returning from the injured list will be Dudu and Predrag Djordjevic. The pair missed all encounters following the early-October derby with AEK, until Dudu played the full ninety minutes against Aris.
Not returning from an injury, rather a long absence from the roster is Mirnes Sisic. The Slovenia international fell out of favour before the Super League season started, but with Sisic now given a chance to perform the Slovenian will be closely monitored by manager Ernesto Valverde.
For Diagoras chances of progression are likely very slim, but the side from an Ancient Greek island could pose a tough test for Olympiacos. With the visitors in an apparent slump, Diagoras – with its sturdy defense – could produce a shock in this the fourth round of the Greek Cup.
Olympiacos (Ernesto Valverde): Nikopolidis, Kovac, Pantos, A. Papadopoulos, Zewlakow, Djordjevic, Domi, Galitsios, Mitroglou, Dudu, Torosidis, Sisic, Oscar, G. Papadopoulos, Leto, Diogo, Mendrinos, Kovacevic.
Category: Olympiacos Team News
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