Olympiacos hold Barcelona as Messi, Suárez and co fire blanks
A tireless, pressing Greek side, and their vociferous 12th man, held their Spanish visitors to a goalless draw, giving themselves a first point and ending the Barça runBarcelona - Real Sociedad: LaLiga live online, farewell to Iniesta
We brought you live coverage of the Champions League Group D match between Olympiacos and Barcelona from the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus. The game finished goalless but there was plenty of action to keep us interested throughout.
Olympiacos vs Barcelona online: match report
It was a match that didn't set the imagination on fire ahead of kick-off as the team with three wins travelled to their mirror opposites. There were times during the game, especially in the first 45 minutes, when the slick passing and movement of the Spaniards demonstrated their expected superiority and there was a feeling watching on that a goal was just a matter of minutes away, but that was more often than not balanced with a realisation that heart, lungs and some well drilled organisation can mean a lot in football.
Ernesto Valverde’s team enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and chances came and went in an often frenetic, open match at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium but the La Liga club could not find a way past goalkeeper Silvio Proto and his very determined defensive lines in front of him.
The Belgian keeper made several fine saves, especially in the first half, to deny a somewhat subdued Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez in a pulsating atmosphere generated by the boisterous home fans.
With Juventus and Sporting Clube de Portugal also sharing the points, Barcelona hold onto their advantage at the top of the group with 10 points, having extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 matches with 13 wins and two draws.
It was the first Champions League point in four matches for Takis Lemonis’ Olympiakos team who are also struggling in the Greek SuperLeague.
Olympiacos vs Barcelona online: how it all happened
Olympiacos vs Barcelona live stream online: match preview
Barcelona travel to the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium with qualification for the knock-out stages of the Champions League firmly in their hands after winning their opening three Group D fixtures against Juventus (3-0), Sporting (0-1) and the reigning Greek champions (3-1).
Olympiacos, meanwhile, have endured a difficult start to the season and watched their own Champions League aspirations evaporate after suffering three defeats in Europe. Bottom of Broup D and yet to get on the board, Takis Lemonis’ side are essentially playing for a berth in the Europa League at this stage and are three points behind third-placed Sporting, whose only victory in the Champions League came at the expense of Olympiacos despite a late rally from the Greeks at home.
When Barcelona hosted Olympiacos at Camp Nou the visitors were completely outplayed. Dimitris Nikolaou scored at both ends, his second a 90th-minute consolation, as Ernesto Valverde masterminded a comfortable victory over his old club.
The Basque tactician was in charge in Piraeus for the 2008-09 season and again between 2010 and 2012, leading The Legend to the Superleague title in each of his three campaigns and a league and cup double twice. The return of their former manager is a matter of huge importance for Olympiacos fans, who are planning a homage to Valverde before the game.
Olympiacos
Olympiacos go into the fixture on the back of a stinging derby loss to arch-rivals Panathinaikos that condemned the champions to their worst start in the Greek Superleague in 24 years. Nevertheless, the mood in the streets and the Piraeus press is one of defiance rather than defeat ahead of the visit of Valverde’s juggernaut.
Five points adrift in the Greek top flight and bottom of Group D in Europe, few inside a sold-out Georgios Karaiskakis stadium will genuinely expect the home side to beat Barcelona but an electric atmosphere is guaranteed in what could prove to Olympiacos’ 2017-18 Champions League bow.
Emmanuel Emenike returns to the squad after recovering from a muscle problem and the sight of their star striker should give the home fans a lift, even if the Nigerian was unable to spur his side in the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium against Panathinaikos.
Limonis’ side have been struggling for goals all season and attacking midfielder Konstantinos Fortounis is the club’s top scorer with five in all competitions. Emenike, who has only featured for 510 minutes this season, is second with four. The only piece of encouraging new for Limonis is that his squad has a clean bill of health going into the game and welcomed back club captain Alberto Botía for the reverse leg in Camp Nou after a lengthy injury layoff.
Barcelona
Valverde has led Barcelona to a 14-game unbeaten run in all competitions since the start of the season proper and although he would undoubtedly prefer not to apply the final nail to Olympiacos’ Champions League coffin, he will be confident of maintaining that record against his former club.
Barça have been almost as prolific in the Champions League as domestically, averaging 2.3 goals a game in Europe compared to 2.8 in LaLiga and have only conceded once in Europe, against Olympiacos in the return leg when the result was already beyond doubt.
The Greek champions arrive at this fixture limping but Valverde’s side took another giant stride in their own pursuit of domestic dominance with a hard-fought 2-0 victory against another of Txingurri’s former sides, Athletic, in San Mamés.
The loss of Andrés Iniesta to injury and Gerard Piqué’s suspension after being sent off in the Camp Nou meeting between the sides is an inconvenience to the Barcelona boss but his squad has proved adept at covering for big-name players this season. Sergi Roberto could come into the midfield to deputise for the captain, which will mean another start for the impressive Nelson Semedo at right back, if Valverde opts to hand Paulinho a rest.
Javier Mascherano and Thomas Vermaelen are both available after recovering from a fever and injury respectively, giving Valverde a wealth of options to partner Samuel Umtiti in the heart of the defence.
Up front, Gerard Deulofeu is the primary candidate to form an attacking three with Messi and Luis Suárez, with André Gomes slipping back to the bench after starting in San Mamés at the weekend.
Olympiacos vs Barcelona live online: selected betting odds
The home side are priced at 14/1 to pull off a shock victory while the 0-0 draw is chalked up at 16/1. A repeat of the 3-1 score line from the previous game pays out at 10/1 while in the scorer stakes Leo Messi is 4/9 to score at any time and 13/2 to bag his third hat-trick of the season.
