Barcelona – Olympiakos
Barcelona welcomes Olympiakos in a game from Group D of the UEFA Champions League. The match is going to be played at the legendary Camp Nou in the Catalan capital.
Barca are leaders in this group with 6 points won from the first two matches. After beating Juventus in the first round, Los Cules managed to win against Sporting in Lisboa as well. They are now the favourites for the first place in the group – something which they’d want to prove with two wins against the champions of Greece.
Olympiakos on the other hand started their participation in the tournament in the worst way possible – with two consecutive losses against Sporting and Juventus. Their most realistic goal is beating Sporting for the third spot in the group, but so far they are not doing what’s needed to achieve it.
There’s an obvious difference in terms of quality between these two teams. Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world and their goal is to win the Champions League. It’d be unexpected to see them losing points against Olympiakos. But hey – anything can happen in football, right?
During the weekend Barca had a tough visit to Atletico in Madrid. The game in the capital ended with a 1-1 draw. Despite of this, Barcelona remain leaders in La Liga and the team in the best form in the country.
Olympiakos on the other hand are not doing that well in the Greek Super League. They are currently 5th in the league standings, trailing on 4 points behind the leader PAOK. Before winning against Panionios in the last round, they were in a run of two consecutive losses.
It’s curious that Barcelona’s manager Ernesto Valverde is a former manager of Olympiakos as well. He even became champion of Greece with this team. Let’s see how his new team will deal with one of his formers.