The profile of Olympiakos’ opponents in the Europa League groups

The lottery brought him to… difficulties Olympicas he put two quite difficult teams in his way despite the fact that the “red and whites” were in the second capacity group.

Specifically, the Piraeus were drawn with West Ham, Freiburg and Backa Topolaso they have a very difficult task to continue in the competition, with the draw still giving… a passable opponent to secure at least third place.

See the profile of Olympiakos’ opponents:

West Ham

The team from the first capacity group that happened to Olympiacos comes from the Premier League, which is never… encouraging. West Ham is in the Europa League not through a championship, but through winning last year’s Conference, in the final against Fiorentina.

The Hammers were founded in 1895 and are one of England’s most historic teams. Their ground is the London Stadium, with a capacity of 62,500 seats. Last season they did not do well in the league and finished 14th, however this year the English have started strongly with 7 points from the first 3 matches. They have met again with Olympiakos in the 1965-66 Cup Winners’ Cup, in the second round, qualifying 4-0 and 2-2.

Their coach is David Moyesvery experienced with terms in Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland. In fact, he also has… a past with Olympiakos, since he was with the “red devils” in 2013-14, when they faced the “red and white” in the round of 16 of the Champions League and qualified with an upset from a 2-0 defeat in ” Karaiskakis”.

As for their roster, there are plenty of “stars”. Declan Rice may be gone, but here come the Mohammed Qudous and James Ward-Prowse. Otherwise, Lucas Paquetas, Pablo Fornals, Mihail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma stand out. On the roster of the “hammers”, in fact, there is now Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Freiburg

The raffle brought a… not-so-old acquaintance to the street of Olympiakos. THE Freiburgwhich the “red and white” faced last year in the same match, will be their opponent again this year.

The German team was founded in 1904 and is based near the Black Forest. It has red and white colors (alternatively black) and has a stadium in the “Europa Park Stadion” (32,000 spectators). He has never won a major title in Germanywhile last season he was a semi-finalist in Cup and finished fifth in Bundesliga.

The German Christian Streich she has been on her bench since 2011, where she already counts 400 games. The big star of the team is the German international stopper Mathias Ginderwhile his partner, an international Austrian defender, is also excellent Philip Linhart. Also stand out are the wingers Roland Salai from Hungary and Vincenzo Grifo from Italy, as is German left-back Christian Ginter.

Last year, he beat him Olympic with 0-3 at Karaiskakis, while it was joined by a 1-1 draw at Germanyequaling the delays.

Batska Topola

The (in theory always) weakest group in the group is Batska Topola. Runners-up Serbia are a relatively unheralded team in European terms, without a particularly quality roster, so they are a viable opponent for Olympicalways on “papers”.

THE Batska Topola was founded in 1913. Its seat is the TSC Arena, with a capacity of 4,500 seats. He has yet to win a major title in Serbia, finishing second in the league last year.

In doing so, he played in his third qualifying round Champions League. There, he was excluded from the Braga with a total score of 7-1, going directly to the Europa groups. In this season, they have started strongly, counting 4 wins and 1 draw in Serbia, as a result of which they are in the first place so far.

Its coach is Zarko Lazetic, a 41-year-old Serb without much experience from a high-level European club. Its top players are the midfielders Milos Cvetkovic and the attacker Sasha Jovanovic, which is the biggest “danger” ahead. The winger is also on the rise Marko Rakoniacwhom Batska took on loan from Red Star.