Do-or-die clash for Olympiakos
Going into tonight’s last round of Champions League group play without any hope of reaching the competition’s next stage, Olympiakos will be pushing for victory over Ukranian visitor Shakhtar Donetsk, which would grant the Piraeus club a consolation berth in the less prestigious UEFA Cup. Nothing less than victory at Karaiskaki Stadium in tonight’s encounter would guarantee Olympiakos third place in the Champions League’s Group D and its UEFA Cup place. Olympiakos is currently last in its group, three points behind the Ukrainian champion. The two clubs will be tied on five points apiece if Olympiakos wins, but the Greek club would have a better head-to-head record following its 2-2 draw in Ukraine. With Group D’s second place still in sight, the Ukrainians have serious reason to push for victory. Shakhtar Donetsk lies two points behind second-placed Roma. Should the Italian club lose tonight to visiting Valencia, the group’s runaway winner, Shakhtar Donetsk, would overtake Roma in second place for a qualifying berth to the next stage. «I’ve played many finals in my life. I never use the word catastrophe in soccer. It will be a great disappointment should we not qualify for the UEFA Cup. Catastrophe is a word that can be likened to war or other similar things,» Olympiakos coach Trond Sollied told a news conference in response to a reporter’s question. All third-placed teams from the Champions League’s eight groups advance to the UEFA Cup’s next round. The top two carry on for home-and-away knockout competition all the way to the final. Though Olympiakos has failed to win a single away game in the Champions League after 31 attempts, it is the side’s poor home record this season that has led to tonight’s do-or-die encounter. Olympiakos lost 2-0 at Valencia but has held both Shakhtar and Roma to draws in its two other away games. At home, Olympiakos has lost to both Valencia and Roma, ensuring the club’s eighth consecutive failure at this stage of the competition. «We need to strike a balance between attack and defense,» said Sollied. «If we find this, then I don’t fear their strikers as I do their midfield, which is very strong.»
