Olympiacos F.C. season 2007-08

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Olympiacos
Season 2007–08
Manager Flag of Spain José Segura
Chairman Flag of Greece Socratis Kokkalis
League Super League Greece
Final league position Winners
Greek Cup Winners
Greek Super Cup Winners
UEFA Champions League First knockout round
Top goalscorer League:
Darko Kovačević (17)
All:
Darko Kovačević (24)
Highest home attendance 33,500 vs Real Madrid (6 November 2007)
Lowest home attendance 14,544 vs Ergotelis (16 February 2008)
← Previous season
2006-07
Next season →
2008-09

The 2007–08 season is Olympiacos 49th consecutive season in the Super League Greece and their 11th consecutive season in the UEFA Champions League. Manager Takis Lemonis left the club by mutual consent on March 11, 2008 due to the club's lower-than-expected performance of the team in the Super League, and was replaced by his assistant Spanish José Segura.[1]

Contents

[edit] Squad

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Greece GK Leonidas Panagopoulos
2 Flag of Greece DF Christos Patsatzoglou
3 Flag of France DF Didier Domi
4 Flag of Brazil DF Leonardo
5 Flag of Brazil DF Júlio César
6 Flag of Greece MF Ieroklis Stoltidis (vice-captain)
7 Flag of Argentina MF Luciano Galletti
9 Flag of Serbia FW Darko Kovačević
10 Flag of Argentina FW Leonel Núñez
11 Flag of Serbia MF Predrag Đorđević (captain)
14 Flag of Poland DF Michał Żewłakow
15 Flag of Spain DF Raúl Bravo
18 Flag of Greece DF Paraskevas Antzas
19 Flag of Greece MF Konstantinos Mendrinos
21 Flag of Greece MF Andreas Vasilogiannis
No. Position Player
22 Flag of Greece FW Kostantinos Mitroglou
23 Flag of Cyprus FW Michalis Konstantinou
24 Flag of Greece MF Georgios Katsikogiannis
25 Flag of Argentina MF Fernando Belluschi
27 Flag of Greece DF Konstantinos Lambropoulos
28 Flag of Argentina MF Cristian Raúl Ledesma
30 Flag of Greece DF Anastasios Pantos
31 Flag of Greece MF Aristides Soiledis
32 Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo FW Lomana LuaLua
35 Flag of Greece DF Vasilis Torosidis
71 Flag of Greece GK Antonis Nikopolidis (vice-captain)
74 Flag of Croatia GK Tomislav Butina
77 Flag of Slovenia MF Mirnes Šišić
87 Flag of Greece GK Michalis Sifakis
92 Flag of Greece DF Kyriakos Papadopoulos

[edit] Winter Squad Changes

In

No. Position Player
77 Flag of Slovenia MF Mirnes Šišić from Levadiakos
25 Flag of Argentina MF Fernando Belluschi from River Plate
4 Flag of Brazil DF Leonardo from Portuguesa

Total spending: 10,400,000€

Out

No. Position Player
8 Flag of Argentina MF Rodrigo Archubi to River Plate
16 Flag of Côte d'Ivoire MF Marco Né Released by Club
18 Flag of Ecuador FW Félix Borja to FSV Mainz 05
36 Flag of Greece MF Giannoulis Fakinos Released by Club

Total income: 1,450,000€

[edit] Out on loan

No. Position Player
4 Flag of the Republic of Macedonia DF Vanče Šikov to Apollon Kalamarias
7 Flag of Greece DF Georgios Galitsios to AEL 1964
13 Flag of Hungary MF Zsolt Laczko to Leicester City
20 Flag of Greece FW Lefteris Matsoukas to AO Egaleo Athens
77 Flag of Brazil MF Leozinho to OFI Crete
-- Flag of Albania MF Jahmir Hyka to SK Tirana

[edit] Current national players

No. Position Player
2 Flag of Greece DF Christos Patsatzoglou 26 (1)
14 Flag of Poland DF Michał Żewłakow 74 (2)
18 Flag of Greece DF Paraskevas Antzas 21 (0)
23 Flag of Cyprus FW Michalis Konstantinou 45 (20)
25 Flag of Argentina MF Fernando Belluschi 2 (0)
28 Flag of Argentina MF Cristian Raúl Ledesma 3 (0)
32 Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo FW Lomana LuaLua 30 (13)
35 Flag of Greece DF Vasilis Torosidis 10 (0)
71 Flag of Greece GK Antonis Nikopolidis 84 (0)
  • Appearances (Goals)

[edit] Club

Olympiacos F.C. 2007-08 Squad
Olympiacos F.C. 2007-08 Squad

[edit] The Management

Position Staff
Manager Flag of Spain José Segura
Assistant manager Flag of Serbia Bozidar Badovic
Club doctor Flag of Greece Giannis Anagnostopoulos
Chief scout Flag of Greece Antreas Niniadis

Last updated: 12 Mar 2008
Source: Olympiacos FC

[edit] Kit

Supplier: Puma
Sponsor: Vodafone

Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Third

Source: Olympiacos FC


[edit] Other Information

Chairman Flag of Greece Socratis Kokkalis
Vice-Chairman/Managing Director Flag of Greece Petros Kokkalis
Technical Manager Flag of Serbia Ilija Ivić
Ground (capacity and dimensions) Karaiskákis Stadium (33,334 / 120x80 m)

Source: Olympiacos FC article about Socratis Kokkalis and Olympiacos FC article about Karaiskákis Stadium

[edit] Competitions

[edit] Overall

Competition Started round Current
position / round
Final
position / round
First match Last match
Greek Super Cup Winner 31 Oct 2007
Super League Greece Winner 2 Sep 2007 20 Apr 2008
UEFA Champions League Group Stage Round of 16 18 Sep 2007 5 Mar 2008
Greek Cup 4th Round Winner 5 Dec 2007 17 May 2008

Last updated: May 18, 2008
Source: Competitions' Wikipedia articles.

[edit] Super League Greece

[edit] Classification

P
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Olympiacos  (C) 30 21 7 2 58 23 35 70 UEFA Champions League 2008-09
Third Qualifying Round
2 AEK Athens 30 22 2 6 65 17 48 68 UEFA Champions League 2008-09
Second Qualifying Round
3 Panathinaikos 30 20 6 4 44 18 26 66 UEFA Cup 2008-09
Second Qualifying Round

Last updated: April 21, 2008
Source: Super League Greece 2007-08
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th head-to-head goals scored; 5th goal difference; 6th goals scored.
P = Position; Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; (C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted.
Head-to-Head: used when two or more teams need the head-to-head rules to break a tie.

[edit] Results summary

Overall Home Away
Pld Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
30 70 21 7 2 58 23 +35 13 2 0 32 9 +23 8 5 2 26 14 +12

Last updated: April 21, 2008
Source: Super League Greece
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

[edit] Results by round

Round 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Ground A H A H H A H A H A H H A H A H A H A A H A H A H A A H A H
Result D W D W W D W L W W W W D W W D W W W W W D D W W W L W W W

Last updated: April 21, 2008.
Source: Olympiacos FC
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win.

[edit] UEFA Champions League

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Spain Real Madrid 6 3 2 1 13 9 +4 11
Flag of Greece Olympiacos 6 3 2 1 11 7 +4 11
Flag of Germany Werder Bremen 6 2 0 4 8 13 -5 6
Flag of Italy Lazio 6 1 2 3 8 11 -3 5

Last updated: December 11, 2007
Source: UEFA

[edit] Matches

All times for the Domestic Competitions at EET

[edit] Super League Greece

2007-09-02
21:15
Panathinaikos 0 – 0 Olympiacos Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 13,430
(Report)

2007-09-23
19:00
Olympiacos 6 – 2 OFI Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 25,054
César Scored after 7 minutes 7'
LuaLua Scored after 20 minutes 20' Scored after 39 minutes 39'
Kovačević Scored after 25 minutes 25' Scored after 43 minutes 43'
Đorđević Scored after 74 minutes 74'
(Report) Sfakianakis Scored after 13 minutes 13'
Torosidis Scored after 88 minutes 88' (o.g.)

2007-09-29
16:45
Aris Thessaloniki 1 – 1 Olympiacos Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium, Thessaloniki
Attendance: 10,459
Marco Aurelio Scored after 90+3 minutes 90+3' (Report) Galletti Scored after 39 minutes 39'

2007-10-06
19:00
Olympiacos 1 – 0 Apollon Kalamarias Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 27,029
Kovačević Scored after 44 minutes 44' (Report)

2007-10-20
19:00
Olympiacos 4 – 1 Panionios Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 20,104
LuaLua Scored after 6 minutes 6'
Kovačević Scored after 64 minutes 64'
Stoltidis Scored after 74 minutes 74'
Galletti Scored after 81 minutes 81' (pen.)
(Report) Djebbour Scored after 54 minutes 54' (pen.)

2007-10-28
16:45
Ergotelis 3 – 3 Olympiacos Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion
Attendance: 8,807
Junior Scored after 21 minutes 21' (pen.) Scored after 88 minutes 88'
Theodoridis Scored after 23 minutes 23'
(Report) César Scored after 38 minutes 38'
Kovačević Scored after 43 minutes 43'
Đorđević Scored after 59 minutes 59' (pen.)

2007-11-03
19:00
Olympiacos 2 – 1 PAOK Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 28,077
Torosidis Scored after 52 minutes 52'
Kovačević Scored after 67 minutes 67'
(Report) Konstantinidis Scored after 42 minutes 42'

2007-11-10
19:00
Asteras Tripolis 1 – 0 Olympiacos Asteras Tripolis Stadium, Tripoli
Attendance: 4,005
Filomeno Scored after 34 minutes 34' (Report)

2007-11-24
19:00
Olympiacos 1 – 0 Veria Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 18,070
Kovačević Scored after 36 minutes 36' (Report)

2007-12-02
19:00
Atromitos 1 – 3 Olympiacos Peristeri Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 5,969
Korakakis Scored after 90+3 minutes 90+3' (Report) Stoltidis Scored after 11 minutes 11'
LuaLua Scored after 30 minutes 30'
Kovačević Scored after 71 minutes 71'

2007-12-08
19:00
Olympiacos 4 – 0 Levadiakos Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 17,096
Stoltidis Scored after 23 minutes 23'
Kovačević Scored after 35 minutes 35'
Đorđević Scored after 52 minutes 52' (pen.)
Mitroglou Scored after 63 minutes 63'
(Report)

2007-12-16
19:00
Olympiacos 1 – 0 AEK Athens Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 30,229
Kovačević Scored after 83 minutes 83' (Report)

2007-12-23
19:00
Larissa 0 – 0 Olympiacos Alkazar, Larissa
Attendance: 6,910
(Report)

2007-12-29
19:00
Olympiacos 2 – 1 Skoda Xanthi Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 23,164
LuaLua Scored after 20 minutes 20'
Kovačević Scored after 59 minutes 59'
(Report) Radzinski Scored after 26 minutes 26'

2008-01-05
16:45
Iraklis 1 – 2 Olympiacos Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki
Attendance: 4,394
Katsabis Scored after 59 minutes 59' (Report) Kovačević Scored after 70 minutes 70' Scored after 72 minutes 72'

2008-01-13
19:00
Olympiacos 1 – 1 Panathinaikos Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 31,310
Antzas Scored after 45+1 minutes 45+1' (Report) N'Doye Scored after 14 minutes 14'

2008-01-20
16:45
OFI 0 – 1 Olympiacos Pankritio Stadium, Heraklion
Attendance: 8,497
(Report) Núñez Scored after 16 minutes 16'

2008-01-27
19:00
Olympiacos 1 – 0 Aris Thessaloniki Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 30,014
Đorđević Scored after 80 minutes 80' (pen.) (Report)

2008-02-03
16:45
Apollon Kalamarias 0 – 3[2] Olympiacos Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki
Attendance: 4,453

2008-02-10
19:00
Panionios 0 – 4 Olympiacos Nea Smyrni Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 3,376
(Report) Kovačević Scored after 5 minutes 5' Scored after 53 minutes 53'
Đorđević Scored after 27 minutes 27' (pen.)
Núñez Scored after 81 minutes 81'

2008-02-16
19:00
Olympiacos 1 – 0 Ergotelis Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 14,544
Đorđević Scored after 28 minutes 28' (Report)

2008-02-23
19:00
PAOK 1 – 1 Olympiacos Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki
Attendance: 22,000
González Scored after 2 minutes 2' (Report) Kovačević Scored after 22 minutes 22'

2008-03-01
19:00
Olympiacos 1 – 1 Asteras Tripolis Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 24,503
César Scored after 2 minutes 2' (Report) Cardozo Scored after 33 minutes 33'

2008-03-09
16:45
Veria 0 – 1 Olympiacos Veria Stadium, Veria
Attendance: 3,001
(Report) Patsatzoglou Scored after 7 minutes 7'

2008-03-15
19:00
Olympiacos 2 – 0 Atromitos Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 20,343
Šišić Scored after 49 minutes 49'
César Scored after 85 minutes 85'
(Report)

2008-03-23
16:45
Levadiakos 1 – 3 Olympiacos Levadia Municipal Stadium, Livadeia
Attendance: 4,007
Dimbala Scored after 7 minutes 7' (Report) Galletti Scored after 19 minutes 19'
Belluschi Scored after 32 minutes 32'
Kovačević Scored after 35 minutes 35'

2008-03-30
19:00
AEK Athens 4 – 0 Olympiacos Olympic Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 40,955
Blanco Scored after 10 minutes 10'
Edinho Scored after 12 minutes 12'
Lyberopoulos Scored after 32 minutes 32'
Kafes Scored after 60 minutes 60'
(Report)

2008-04-06
19:00
Olympiacos 2 – 1 Larissa Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 24,318
Šišić Scored after 50 minutes 50'
Mitroglou Scored after 90 minutes 90'
(Report) Metin Scored after 41 minutes 41'

2008-04-13
19:00
Skoda Xanthi 1 – 4 Olympiacos Skoda Xanthi Arena, Xanthi
Attendance: 4,957
Labriakos Scored after 53 minutes 53' (Report) Żewłakow Scored after 31 minutes 31'
Đorđević Scored after 38 minutes 38' Scored after 49 minutes 49' Scored after 52 minutes 52'

2008-04-20
19:00
Olympiacos 3 – 1 Iraklis Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 29,084
Mitroglou Scored after 26 minutes 26' Scored after 39 minutes 39'
Đorđević Scored after 50 minutes 50'
(Report) Malagueno Scored after 61 minutes 61'

[edit] Greek Cup

In the fourth round (round of "32") of the Greek Cup 2007-08, Olympiacos faced Diagoras from Rhodes, who played in the Third Division. The latter were close to shock the champions who made it to the fifth round with a goal scored in the last minutes of the match. The next opponents of the team of Piraeus was the arch-rivals of Panathinaikos, who were crashed by the eternal enemy with a heavy 4-0 loss, in a full of Olympiacos fans Karaiskákis Stadium. In the quarter-finals, Olympiacos eliminated Iraklis, by their win 2-0 in the first leg and getting a draw 2-2 in the second. For the semi-finals, Olympiacos faced Thrasyvoulos and eliminated him, by the wins 2-3 away and 3-1 in Piraeus. So, Reds faced Aris for the Greek FA Cup Final at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, where they got the Greek FA Cup by their win 2-0.

[edit] Fourth Round

2007-12-05
17:45
Diagoras 1 – 2 Olympiacos Diagoras Stadium, Rhodes
Attendance: 6,000
Triantafyllou Scored after 59 minutes 59' (pen.) (Report) Mitroglou Scored after 66 minutes 66' Scored after 89 minutes 89'

[edit] Fifth Round

2008-01-16
21:30
Olympiacos 4 – 0 Panathinaikos Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 31,255
LuaLua Scored after 6 minutes 6'
Torosidis Scored after 63 minutes 63'
Kovačević Scored after 65 minutes 65'
Núñez Scored after 79 minutes 79'
(Report)

[edit] Quarter-finals

2008-02-27
20:00
Olympiacos 2 – 0 Iraklis Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 22,547
Mendrinos Scored after 5 minutes 5' Scored after 9 minutes 9' (Report)

2008-03-19
20:00
Iraklis 2 – 2 Olympiacos Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki
Attendance: 2,397
Ñíguez Scored after 42 minutes 42'
Ribeiro Scored after 88 minutes 88'
(Report) Bantis Scored after 10 minutes 10' (o.g.)
Mitroglou Scored after 23 minutes 23'

[edit] Semi-finals

2008-04-02
16:45
Thrasyvoulos 2 – 3 Olympiacos Fyli Stadium, Fyli
Attendance: 3,524
Anastasakos Scored after 29 minutes 29'
Bris Scored after 35 minutes 35'
(Report) Mendrinos Scored after 16 minutes 16'
Núñez Scored after 28 minutes 28'
Kovačević Scored after 89 minutes 89'

2008-04-16
21:00
Olympiacos 3 – 1 Thrasyvoulos Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 15,347
Kovačević Scored after 14 minutes 14'
Konstantinou Scored after 15 minutes 15'
Núñez Scored after 21 minutes 21'
(Report) Manikas Scored after 33 minutes 33'

[edit] Final

2008-05-17
19:00
Olympiacos 2 – 0 Aris Thessaloniki Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki
Attendance: 20,270
Kovačević Scored after 33 minutes 33'
Żewłakow Scored after 53 minutes 53'
(Report)

[edit] Greek Super Cup

Olympiacos added one more trophy to their long list. The 2006-07 Super League Greece Champions beat the 2006-2007 Greek FA Cup holders, Larissa, 1-0 at the Karaiskakis stadium on October 31, and won the Super Cup for the third time in their history. Kostas Mitroglou scored the winner on 39 minutes after a cross by Soiledis (coach Takis Lemonis decided to give more playing time to the younger players on the team) while Galletti missed out on an opportunity when his shot hit the bar on 81 minutes. The final attracted only 7,141 fans at Olympiacos' home, from which 7,030 were the supporters of the hosts.

[edit] Final

2007-10-31
20:00
Olympiacos 1 – 0 Larissa Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 7,141
Mitroglou Scored after 39 minutes 39' (Report)

[edit] UEFA Champions League

All times at CET

[edit] Group stage

Olympiacos, in their 11th consecutive presence in the competition, were drawn into Group C with Real Madrid, Werder Bremen and Lazio. The Reds started their campaign with a 1-1 draw behind closed doors in Karaïskákis Stadium against Lazio, but on the second day Olympiacos made their first ever away win in the Champions League and stopped their run of 31 matches without a success on their travels, with a 3-1 win over Werder Bremen at Weserstadion, turning the game around from 0-1. After, they travelled to Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as leaders of Group C, where they were finally defeated 2-4 to Real, after a heart-breaking match in which the Greek team was playing with 10 men from the 13th minute and was leading the score to the 68th with 2-1, turning it around from 0-1 and wasting a lot of chances to score more. Real Madrid scored their third goal in the 83th, but Olympiacos came close to score many times during the last minutes of the match and leave Madrid with the draw, when Real secured the win with a last-minute goal.

At the second round, Olympiacos produced a determined display to earn a point against Real Madrid, in the goalless draw at the Karaiskakis Stadium, keeping alive the record of being undefeated by Real in Athens in four matches. The Reds moved a step closer to qualifying for the last 16 after coming from behind to defeat Lazio 2-1 in Stadio Olimpico, while on the last day Olympiacos smashed Werder Bremen 3-0 in Athens, which ensured their place in the knock out stage of the tournament.

2007-09-18
20:45
Olympiacos Flag of Greece 1 – 1 Flag of Italy Lazio Karaïskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 0[3]
Referee: Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)
Galletti Scored after 55 minutes 55' (Report) Zauri Scored after 77 minutes 77'

2007-10-03
20:45
Werder Bremen Flag of Germany 1 – 3 Flag of Greece Olympiacos Weserstadion, Bremen
Attendance: 37,500
Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)
Almeida Scored after 32 minutes 32' (Report) Stoltidis Scored after 72 minutes 72'
Patsatzoglou Scored after 82 minutes 82'
Kovačević Scored after 87 minutes 87'

2007-10-24
20:45
Real Madrid Flag of Spain 4 – 2 Flag of Greece Olympiacos Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid
Attendance: 64,477
Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway)
Raúl Scored after 2 minutes 2'
Robinho Scored after 68 minutes 68' Scored after 83 minutes 83'
Balboa Scored after 90 minutes 90'
(Report) Galletti Scored after 8 minutes 8'
César Scored after 47 minutes 47'

2007-11-06
20:45
Olympiacos Flag of Greece 0 – 0 Flag of Spain Real Madrid Karaïskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 33,500
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)
(Report)

2007-11-28
20:45
Lazio Flag of Italy 1 – 2 Flag of Greece Olympiacos Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 39,996
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
Pandev Scored after 30 minutes 30' (Report) Galletti Scored after 35 minutes 35'
Kovačević Scored after 64 minutes 64'

2007-12-11
20:45
Olympiacos Flag of Greece 3 – 0 Flag of Germany Werder Bremen Karaïskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 30,297
Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France)
Stoltidis Scored after 12 minutes 12' Scored after 74 minutes 74'
Kovačević Scored after 70 minutes 70'
(Report)

[edit] Standings
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Flag of Spain Real Madrid 6 3 2 1 13 9 +4 11
Flag of Greece Olympiacos 6 3 2 1 11 7 +4 11
Flag of Germany Werder Bremen 6 2 0 4 8 13 -5 6
Flag of Italy Lazio 6 1 2 3 8 11 -3 5

[edit] Knockout stage

The draw for the first knockout round took place on 21 December, and paired Olympiacos with Chelsea of England. The two clubs had never met in the past. In the first leg in Athens, Olympiacos held Chelsea to 0-0, a score which left both teams content, Olympiacos because they didn't concede a goal in their home and Chelsea because they kept a clean sheet to occupy the driving seat going into the return leg in London. Olympiacos, backed by deafening and frenzied support, refused to be overawed by their English opponents, enjoying the lion's share of possession and chances in a closely contested encounter. The Londoners failed to create one real clear-cut chance against their opponents and their manager Avram Grant said: "The performance could have been better. It's not a bad result. We didn't create a lot of chances, it's disappointing. But its hard to play here. They have good supporters and a well organized team."[4]

In the second leg in London, Chelsea won 3-0, with more difficulty than the score shows. The Blues surprised the Reds and scored very early with their first chance. Olympiacos balanced the game, but the English scored again before the end of the first half. At the start of the second half Chelsea scored for last time, with another error in the Greek defence. In the rest of the game Olympiacos had the control, and he could score once or twice.

2008-02-19
20:45
Olympiacos Flag of Greece 0 – 0 Flag of England Chelsea Karaiskákis Stadium, Athens
Attendance: 31,302
Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria)
(Report)

2008-03-05
20:45
Chelsea Flag of England 3 – 0 Flag of Greece Olympiacos Stamford Bridge, London
Attendance: 37,721
Referee: Manuel Mejuto González (Spain)
Ballack Scored after 5 minutes 5'
Lampard Scored after 25 minutes 25'
Kalou Scored after 48 minutes 48'
(Report)

Chelsea won 3–0 on aggregate.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lemonis leaves Olympiacos post (English). UEFA.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  2. ^ The match was played on 3 February 2008 and Apollon Kalamarias won 1-0, but due to the illegal appearance of Roman Wallner (Apollon) the result was invalid. It was decided that Olympiacos would be awarded a 3-0 win while Apollon would be punished with 1 point deducted.
  3. ^ Olympiacos ordered to play match behind closed doors after crowed trouble against FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the previous Champions League campaign on the 5 December 2006.
  4. ^ Olympiacos holds Chelsea to 0-0 draw (English). FOX Sports on MSN (2008-02-20). Retrieved on 2008-02-24.

[edit] External links

Olympiacos F.C. official website