Match precautions normal
Despite traditional rivalries between Greece and Turkey, police are not expected to take increased security measures in a Champions League game between Galatasaray and Olympiakos tonight. «We’ll take the normal measures as in every game involving a European club,» said a police spokesman, who asked not to be named. Under an agreement between the two clubs, they cannot bring supporters to away games. The agreement was also applied in the violence-free first-leg match in Istanbul two weeks ago. Galatasaray won 1-0. The two neighboring NATO countries have longstanding differences over territorial issues and war-divided Cyprus. The two countries have come to the brink of war at least three times since 1974. About 100 Turks, mostly reporters and club officials, will be present at the Giorgos Kamaras Stadium, used by defending champion and Greek league leader Olympiakos as its home ground while its regular stadium is refurbished for next year’s Olympics. Olympiakos’s Ukrainian coach Oleg Protasov’s major task was to boost his players’ morale after a 2-2 draw against last-place Ionikos on Sunday. Ionikos’s 87th-minute equalizer deprived Olympiakos from taking a four-point lead over rival Panathinaikos in the first division. «Forget the match against Ionikos and concentrate on Wednesday’s game,» Protasov told his players. After three losses in the Champions League, Olympiakos is pointless at the bottom of Group D. Galatasaray is in third place with three points. The group is led by Juventus with nine points followed by Real Sociedad with six. «We need victory at all cost… nothing is lost yet,» Protasov said. Except for Fanis Katergiannakis, who will replace Slovakian goalkeeper Juri Bucek, Protasov declined to make clear his team’s lineup. Galatasaray’s Volkan Arslan, undergoing treatment in Germany, will miss the match and injured Hakan Sukur is a doubtful starter. Limited violence marred the first-ever official game between clubs from Greece and Turkey in October 2002. In a game for the UEFA Cup, supporters of host Fenerbahce and Panathinaikos exchanged insults and threw items at each other, slightly injuring some Greek and Turkish fans. But the second-leg encounter a month later, was free of violence. It ended with a 4-1 victory for the Greek club. (AP)
