Olympiakos’s missed chance
Olympiakos blew its big chance to open its Champions League campaign with a win on Tuesday night as it drew at home 1-1 with Italy’s Lazio, while criticism centered on the tactics of manager Takis Lemonis. Playing behind closed doors, the Greek champions took the lead with Luciano Galletti after 55 minutes, although he was arguably offside when Predrag Djordjevic picked him from the left. Yet Olympiakos did little to build on this lead and then conceded an equalizer in the 77th minute from Luciano Zauri, who was definitely offside. Lazio missed two more chances before the final whistle, even though the Italian team failed to impress with its game. The passive playing by Olympiakos for most of the match disappointed fans and club officials, with technical director Ilija Ivic stating after the game that the team did not respond to the equalizer and should have played with two strikers. Lemonis did not hide his frustration with the result, using the lack of enough competitive games as an excuse for the negative performance of the last 30 minutes. UEFA Cup ties Tonight it is the turn of the UEFA Cup, with five Greek teams trying their luck in the first round of the competition. In Athens, AEK is hosting Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, coached by Italian Giovanni Trapattoni, who maintained yesterday that his team is marginally the favorite to advance to the group stage. His opposite number at AEK, the Spaniard Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, called on his players to «score as many goals as possible.» Panathinaikos has traveled to Slovakia to face Artmedia Petrzalka in Bratislava, at local rival Slovan’s ground, while Greek Cup winners Larissa will entertain Blackburn Rovers at the Panthessalikon Stadium in neighboring Volos. Both Artmedia and Larissa had their home grounds rejected as UEFA Cup venues. For Panionios, the trip to France to face Sochaux is more than a mere distraction, as the Nea Smyrni club has credible chances of making it to the group stage. Aris will probably have a more difficult task against the might of Real Zaragoza, but the capacity crowd at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium in Thessaloniki will also play its part tonight. Finally, Cyprus’s Anorthosis Famagusta is visiting Tottenham Hotspur, and expecting the strong support of 2,000 Cypriots.
