Olympiakos and Newcastle finally to meet Thursday
Looking ahead to Thursday night’s UEFA Cup clash between Olympiakos and English Premier League club Newcastle United, a first-leg encounter in Athens for a quarterfinal place, it is worth noting that the two clubs have previously never met in the competition. Both have already taken on teams from their opponents’ country in Europan club-level competition this season. For Olympiakos, its previous English experience this season was a bitter one. The Piraeus club traveled to Liverpool as its group’s front-runner in the Champions League’s first phase, but with a 3-1 loss, after the Greek club opened the scoring, it sank to third place and out of the lucrative competition. A 2-1 loss would have sufficed for second place and a berth in the next round. Instead, the Greek club was granted a consolatory third-round place in the less prestigious UEFA Cup. Olympiakos knocked out French club Sochaux in the third round, but if the Piraeus team is to get past Newcastle United, it will need to defy a bad record against English clubs. In its 12 previous encounters against English clubs, Olympiakos has won just twice, against Liverpool at home earlier this season and versus Tottenham Hotspur in the second round of the 1972-73 UEFA Cup. However, the Greek team’s home record against English competition is respectable. Manchester United is the only team to have won at Olympiakos, on two occasions, both Champions League games, in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. Olympiakos has proved a strong side at home in European club-level competition this season, winning all four of its encounters in the Champions League and UEFA Cup.
