Olympiacos Piraeus vs Atalanta – Olympiacos will try to take advantage of home advantage in the pivotal second leg of their Europa League playoff round encounter against Atalanta BC on Thursday evening.
The teams will meet again at Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis after an astonishing double from defender Berat Djimsiti gave the Italian club a 2-1 success over an out-of-sorts La Dea in Bergamo.
Olympiacos walked away from their trip to Lombardy with a one-goal disadvantage after conceding a number of quick Atalanta goals shortly after the hour mark, despite being in the ascendancy when Tiquinho scored past home goalkeeper Juan Musso early in the first leg last week.
The Greek giants have only won one of the 22 European ties in which they have lost the first leg away from home, leaving them with a lot of work to do if they are to advance.
They are seeking to reach the final 16 for the fifth time – and for the third season in a row – as they make a joint-record ninth appearance in the Europa League’s knockout round. Olympiacos, despite their domestic dominance, have never progressed beyond that point.
Despite failing to win Friday’s Derby della Mole, Juventus strengthened their hold on fourth position in Serie A thanks to Atalanta’s 1-0 defeat to Fiorentina last weekend.
Still in fifth place, La Dea is only two points ahead of Fiorentina, with the Rome clubs not far behind, which will worry explosive coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who was sent off for the second time at Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The Nerazzurri are in a dogfight to qualify for the Champions League for the fourth straight season by finishing in the top four, and a record of three draws and three losses in their previous seven games suggests they are having to adapt without top scorer Duvan Zapata.
Olympiacos Piraeus vs Atalanta – Team News:
Gian Piero Gasperini, who was removed from the touchline due to dissent on Sunday and then shunned media duties after a ‘goal’ was controversially disallowed by the VAR, has a number of selection concerns to settle.
In Piraeus, Atalanta will be without Duvan Zapata, Aleksei Miranchuk, and Jose Luis Palomino, while Zapata’s deputy Luis Muriel missed the weekend match and is still a doubt. La Dea’s bench was three guys short owing to absences in Florence, and featured a few of inexperienced teenagers.
If Muriel is ruled out, January signing Jeremie Boga will start up front for the visitors, who are poised to recall Mario Pasalic and Joakim Maehle after they were benched for Sunday’s Serie A match.
Olympiacos, on the other hand, will start with a back three led by experienced center-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos. The former Milan defender, who played under Gasperini at Genoa over a decade ago, has been a constant presence throughout the competition thus far. Kostas Manolas, an ex-Napoli player who returned to the club last month, will be joining him.
Pedro Martins is still without winger Garry Rodrigues due to injury, but is unaffected by the absences this week.
Tiquinho, a Brazilian forward, is poised to lead the line upfront after his goal in the away leg, while Tomas Vaclik, the 2020 Europa League winner, starts in goal.
Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Vaclik; Cisse, Manolas, Sokratis; Lala, A. Camara, Bouchalakis, Reabciuk; Onyekuru, Tiquinho, Masouras
Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:
Musso; Djimsiti, Demiral, Toloi; Maehle, De Roon, Freuler, Pezzella; Pasalic, Malinovskyi; Boga
Olympiacos Piraeus vs Atalanta – Head-to-Head:
Our Prediction: Away Win or Draw
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