Inefficient Olympiakos, keeps pressure and fast circulation

Liked it… but he needs another job too Olympic!

In their second warm-up friendly on Austrian soil, the “red and white” stayed at 1-1 against the more ready North Zealandshowing that they need reinforcement and more work in midfield piece.

On the other hand, Mr Diego Martinez can keep her very good inhibitory function of the group, but also the fact that for the second consecutive match the “red and whites” unfolded on the grass the elements that the Spanish coach wants to see, with high pressure, but also the quick and immediate circulation of the ball.

A very good performance for Olympiakos was made by El Arabi, who was the one who scored the goal and reached 3 in this year’s preparation, as well as the Kostas Fortounis, Rodinei – despite the penalty he took – and o Huang. His presence was also felt by Buttucciin the few minutes he fought towards the finale of the match.

The team’s new transfer acquisitions were left out of the match, Vithene Ibora and Kiniwho are expected to get playing time in the club’s next friendlies.

In the coach’s mind:



THE Diego Martinez lined up Olympiakos with a 4-2-3-1 system. Paschalakis found himself under the posts, with Rodinei, Ba, Retso and Reabciuk making up the foursome of the defense. Bouchalakis and Huang started in the midfielder positions, with the South Korean “debuting” this year’s preparation. On the two “wings” of the attack were Pep Biel and Giorgos Masouras, with Kostas Fortounis moving behind the only forward, El Arabi.

The match:

The beginning of the match was fairly balanced, with Olympic, as time went by gradually increasing the tempo and “turns”. Despite the fact that the North Zealand is at a more advanced stage of preparation – the Danish league opens on July 24 – the “red and whites” were the ones who controlled the match, circulating quickly the ball and pressing high with all lines.

The first good moment in the game just came in the 4th minute, with his drift shot Biel to be blocked firmly by Hansen. Ten minutes later, the Danish keeper instinctively cleared his close range header Masuraafter a foul by Fortunis.

The Piraeus continued to press high with them Rodney, Fortuni and Huang quite active in the offensive part, they also made other phases. At 20′, the long shot of the Greek midfielder went wide, while, in the 32nd minute, the place of Masoura just outside the box, Hansen made a difficult corner. Norgeland’s first real threat came in the 36th minute with Ingvarsen’s long shot that was firmly blocked by Paschalakis. Three minutes later, again Fortounis tried his foot from the left, but without luck.

Against the flow of the race and upon completion of 40′, o Norgeland opened the scoring with Ingvarsen’s penalty, after Rodney’s marking on Diomande.

With three changes he started at second half Olympiacos, with Carvalho, Ramon and Tzolakis replacing Fortunis, Huang and Paschalakis, with Diego Martinez replacing the system in 4-4-2. The start of the “red and white” in the replay can be characterized as sluggish, as, always in relation to the first part, there was a lack of tension and pressure up high.

Nevertheless, Piraeus found the equalizer early in the second half, with third goal by El Arabi in this year’s preparation of the club. Specifically, in the 55th minute, the pressure of Olympiakos bore fruit, with Masura to steal the ball from outside the area, try the shot from a wide position, with the Moroccan striker taking the rebound from Hansen’s save and a close-range header into the empty net to make it 1-1!

Despite the several changes after the completion of an hour of the match, the “red and white” continued to control the match, while, as “medal” of the work done can be characteristic of the fact that they were virtually never threatened in the second half. Until the end of the match, Olympiacos made three good phases to get the victory, but they lacked luck and a good finish.

In the 73′, Vrousai’s fine action and the strong shot he attempted went wide, while in the 86′ he threatened again with a close header. A minute later, hungry for the minutes he fought, Buttuccicaught one “shell” from long range, with the ball stopping at right crossbar of the Danes.

Watch the match live here.