MADRID: Greek champions Olympiakos face a tough task if they are to prevent last season’s beaten finalists Atletico Madrid sealing their passage into the last 16 of the Champions League at the Vicente Calderon today.
Olympiakos haven’t played a competitive game since thrashing Panthrakikos 5-1 on November 9 as the Greek league was suspended last weekend following a violent attack on a senior official of the country’s referee board.
Michel’s men have a realistic chance of reaching the last 16 for a second consecutive year as they are tied with Juventus on six points in second place in Group A, three behind Atletico with two games to play.
Olympiakos shocked Diego Simeone’s men with a 3-2 win at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in September, but the Spanish champions have reeled off three straight victories without even conceding a goal since to put themselves in pole position to progress.
The root of that revival was back-to-back victories over Juventus and Malmo in Madrid before they rode their luck in winning 2-0 in Sweden last time out.
Indeed, Atletico have won seven and drawn one of their eight home Champions League games since returning to the competition for the first time in four years last season and stretched their unbeaten home run in the league to 26 games with a 3-1 win over Malaga on Saturday.
Godin will be partnered in central defence once more by young compatriot Jose Gimenez as Miranda remains sidelined with a thigh injury picked up whilst on international duty with Brazil.
However, he is the only absentee from Simeone’s squad as Mario Mandzukic has shrugged off the shoulder injury that forced him off against Malaga, whilst Guilherme Siqueira and Mario Suarez return after being suspended at the weekend. Olympiakos will bring two familiar faces with them to the Spanish capital in the form of coach Michel, who faced Atletico 25 times during a 12-year playing career with Real Madrid, and goalkeeper Roberto, who began his career with the Los Rojiblancos.
Yet, despite failing to get a prolonged run in the team during two spells at the Calderon, Roberto insists revenge will not be at the forefront of his mind on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Brendan Rodgers faces arguably the biggest challenge of his career as Liverpool manager when he takes his ailing side to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets Razgrad today.
Anything less than victory is likely to spell the end of five-times European champions Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the last 16 of the continent’s elite club football competition, barring a freakish set of other results.
Liverpool, runners-up in the Premier League last season, have struggled badly since the departure of star striker Luis Suarez, now at Spanish giants Barcelona.
And their season hit a new low on Sunday as they suffered a 3-1 loss away to Crystal Palace -- Liverpool’s fourth straight defeat in all competitions -- despite former Southampton striker Rickie Lambert giving them the lead with his first goal for the club.
This latest setback left Liverpool 18 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea and closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places.
New signings such as Mario Balotelli and Dejan Lovren have yet to impress and Rodgers accepted Liverpool fans would not put up with the argument that his team had to get to know one another for much longer, nor with their vulnerability to the counter-attack. “We need to find a solution quickly because this is very disappointing, and we have no one but ourselves to blame,” said Rodgers. “We had to make changes in the summer and are near enough entering a transition phase.
“But whatever phase, we have to be better than that.”
Ludogorets, in their first season in the Champions League, are only behind Liverpool at the bottom of Group B on goal difference, with both sides having taken three points from their opening four matches.
When the teams met at Anfield in September, it needed a stoppage-time penalty from Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard to secure a 2-1 win against Ludogorets -- only founded in 2001 and playing their first competitive fixture in England -- after Dani Alabo had cancelled out Mario Balotelli’s 82nd-minute opener for the hosts.
Ludogorets were well beaten, 4-0 away to Swiss club Basel, in their last Group B match, but that result came after they had pushed Real Madrid close in a 2-1 defeat by the reigning European champions.
And it is the style of the performance against the Spanish giants that Ludogorets manager Georgi Dermendzhiev will want to see replicated by his side today.
“We played bravely, with courage and with no fear against the reigning European champions,” he said. “We played as equals to Real...It is football, everything could happen.”
Courage and a lack of fear are equally the qualities Liverpool will need to demonstrate against Dermendzhiev’s men today.Agencies
