Olympiacos F.C.

Further information: Olympiacos CFP
Olympiacos F.C.
Full name Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus F.C.
(ΠΑΕ Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς)
Nickname(s) Τhrylos (Legend)
Erythrolefki (Red-Whites)
Kokkini (Reds)
Founded March 10 1925
Ground Karaiskakis Stadium
Piraeus, Greece
(Capacity: 33,334)
Chairman Flag of Greece Socratis Kokkalis
Manager Flag of Spain Ernesto Valverde
League Super League Greece
(Σούπερ Λίγκα Ελλάδα)
2007-08 Super League Greece, Champion
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
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Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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Away colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Olympiacos F.C. (Greek: ΠΑΕ Ολυμπιακός), also known simply as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name Olympiacos C.F.P. (Greek: ΟΣΦΠ - Oλυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, transliterated "Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Pireos", Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus), is a Greek football club, part of Olympiacos CFP, based in Piraeus, Athens.

Olympiacos is considered one of the big three football clubs in Greece and it is one of the only four teams that have never been relegated from the first division. Olympiacos is by far the most successful club in Greek football history, having won the Greek League 36 times, the Greek Cup 23 times, 3 Greek Super Cups and 1 Balkans Cup, more titles than any other Greek team; in European competitions, they have reached the quarter-finals twice, in UEFA Champions League 1998–99 and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1992–93. Olympiacos is also one of the founding members of the European Club Association.

Contents

History

Early years and domestic success

Olympiacos was founded on March 10 1925, in the port of Piraeus, when the members of Athlitikos Podosfairikos Syllogos Pireos (Sport and Football Club of Piraeus) and Omilos Filathlon Pireos (Club of Fans of Piraeus) decided, during a historical assembly, to dissolve the two clubs in order to establish a unified new one, with an emblem depicting the profile of an Ancient Olympic Games winner. Notis Kamberos announced the name Olympiacos and Michalis Manouskos completed it to its full name, Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Pireos (Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus). The Andrianopoulos brothers, however, were those who significantly raised the reputation of the club and added glory to it. Members of a prosperous family, they made the name of Olympiacos known over Greece. Jimmy, Dinos, Giorgos and Vassilis were the first to play. Leonidas made his appearance later on and played for a short time. The club's offensive line, made up of the five brothers, soon became legendary. Olympiacos immediately caught the attention of locals, with the team filling the Piraeus Velodrome, present day Karaiskakis Stadium; back then their fanbase consisted mainly of the working class.

In 1926, the Hellenic Football Federation was founded and in 1927 it organized the first Panhellenic Championship. However in the following season (1928-29) Olympiacos came to a dispute with the Hellenic Football Federation and did not participate in the championship. Panathinaikos and AEK Athens decided to follow Olympiacos, and together formed a group called P.O.K.. During that season they played friendly games with each other. The second Panhellenic Championship took place in 1929-30, with the champions of the regional leagues of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki playing in playoff in order to determine the national champion. Up to 1958-59 the Panhellenic Championship was organized this way. The first championship as a national league, called Alpha Ethniki, was held in the 1959-60 season.

Olympiacos won the Greek title for the first time in the 1930-31 season. It was going to be a very successful era. By 1940, Olympiacos had already won six championships in eleven seasons and by 1960 they had won fifteen championships in twenty-three seasons, as well as nine Greek Cups, making for six doubles. The legendary Olympiacos team of the 1950s, with key performers such as Andreas Mouratis, Ilias Rossidis, Thanassis Bebis, Elias Yfantis, Kostas Polychroniou, Giorgos Darivas and Savas Theodoridis, won the title six consecutive times, from 1954 to 1959, combining it with the cup in 1957, 1958 and 1959 to celebrate the only third double in a row to have ever been won in Greek football history. Hence, Olympiacos is also known as Thrylos (Legend), after this classic side of the 1950s which won a hatful of titles. It is worth mentioning that Olympiacos for several seasons was not allowed to make use of the Karaiskakis Stadium and, with permission from Panathinaikos, found a temporary home in Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, the ground of the eternal enemy.

Sporadic success and stone years

The 60s and the early 70s were not as fruitful for Olympiacos, having won only two championships and six cups. Another glorious chapter began in 1972, after Nikos Goulandris became president. He appointed Lakis Petropoulos as coach and signed star players Giorgos Delikaris, Yves Triantafyllos, Julio Losada, Milton Viera and Dimitris Persidis. Under Goulandris presidency, Olympiacos won the title three times in a row from 1973 to 1975, combining it with the cup in 1973 and 1975. The highlight for that side was the 1973-74 season, when Olympiacos won the league with record points (59) and goals (102). Following Goulandris resignation from the presidency in 1975, the team went through a relative "dry" period in the second half of the 1970s. However in the early 80s, Olympiacos emerged again as the dominant power in the Greek football winning the title four times in a row (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983). Key players during this period included forward Nikos Anastopoulos, midfielder Tasos Mitropoulos and goalkeeper Nikos Sarganis. Alketas Panagoulias, who had also been manager of the Greek national football team and the United States national soccer team, coached the team between 1981 and 1983 and again in the 1986-87 season, earning the championship title in 1982, 1983 and 1987.

Olympiacos experienced its darkest days from the late-1980s until the mid-90s. In the mid-80s Olympiacos came into the hands of Greek businessman George Koskotas. Soon Koskotas was accused of and convicted for embezzlement, leaving Olympiacos deep in debt. On the pitch, the team without a serious management went nine seasons without a league title, 1988 to 1996. This period was known as Olympiacos' stone years. It is worth mentioning that 1987-88 was the worst season ever for Olympiacos, as the club finished 8th in the league, playing to avoid the relegation in most of the season.

Absolute domination

The situation improved after Socratis Kokkalis took over Olympiacos' shares in 1993. Having agreed to a settlement of the club's debts with the Greek government, a long term deal according to which the capital was to be paid without any of the large amounts of interest, Kokkalis slowly resurrected the team, first by appointing successful coach Dušan Bajević in 1996, who had just left AEK Athens, following a clash with the management team regarding financial issues and uncertainty. The same season Kokkalis signed for the Reds all the young talents he could find in the Greek market, such as Predrag Đorđević, Grigorios Georgatos, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Georgios Anatolakis and eventually Dimitris Mavrogenidis, Alexandros Alexandris, Giorgos Amanatidis, Andreas Niniadis, all of which proceeded to play for Olympiacos for at least five years and became household names.

Hence Olympiacos' era of domination began, with success attracting players of international magnitude like Zlatko Zahovič, Giovanni, and World Champions Rivaldo and Christian Karembeu. Olympiacos won seven consecutive championships, beating their own past record of six, with their best season being 1998-99, when they celebrated the double and their qualification to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, their best ever European campaign. Following coaches had big shoes to fill and Kokkalis was not prepared to give them time to do it; Olympiacos employed eleven coaches in just four years. The most known are Ioannis Matzourakis, Takis Lemonis, Trond Sollied, Oleg Protasov, Siniša Gogić and Nikos Alefantos.

Despite the constant management changes, Olympiacos kept on winning championships, albeit collecting the same points as the 2nd ranked team in two occasions. In the 2001-02 season, Olympiacos had the advantage over AEK Athens, as they had beat it twice (2-3 and 4-3), while they secured the 2002-03 championship on goal difference, as Panathinaikos had won 3-2 the first game, but was defeated 3-0 in the second.

In the 2003-04 season, Olympiacos finished second, after switching three coaches in a year, losing the championship for the first time after seven years of absolute dominance. For the 2004-05 season, Olympiacos appointed again Dušan Bajević and transferred 1999 World Footballer of the Year and reigning World Champion Brazilian Rivaldo. The end of the season found Olympiacos with both domestic trophies (the championship and the cup) but without their manager Bajević, as he resigned.

Therefore Olympiacos appointed Trond Sollied. They also made a great hit on the market by signing arch-rival Panathinaikos' striker Michalis Konstantinou. During the season 2005-06, Olympiacos achieved to win all the four derbies against their major rivals, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens, something only achieved once more, during the season 1972-73. The combined goal total in these four matches was 11-3 in favour of Olympiacos. They also beat their second biggest rival AEK Athens 3-0 in the Greek Cup Final to clinch their second straight double and managed to win 16 consecutive matches in the championship, thus breaking their own record.

After that, Socrates Kokkalis put full faith in Trond Sollied and signed seven, though not expensive, players according to his recommendations, in hoping that the club will achieve the double for the third straight time for only the second time in Greek footballing history. However, Sollied did not live up to the club's expectations on the Champions League competition and was replaced by Takis Lemonis at the end of 2006. The new manager of the team, though a previous manager of Olympiacos, he transfered to the team young star Vasilis Torosidis who proved to be a faithfull defender. Though Lemonis won the third consecutive championship for Olympiacos, he didn't manage to win the Greek Cup, after a surprising elimination from PAS Giannina.

In the summer of 2007, Olympiacos made very expensive transfers like Darko Kovačević and Luciano Galletti and was part of the most expensive transfer in Greek football history, by selling striker-midfielder Nery Castillo to the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk for the record sum of 20 million Euro (27.5 million US Dollars). Because of a clause in Castillo's contract, Olympiacos received 15 million Euro, whereas the other 5 million Euro were given directly to the player. Furthermore, a controversy started between the team and player Rivaldo, as Olympiacos wouldn't like to renew the player's contract, despite that he was proved to be very useful. Former player Ilija Ivic was selected to be the team's football manager. The team didn't start good in the greek championship, but it achieved a stunning performance in the Champions League, managing to qualify to the next round after nine years of unsuccesfull European campaigns. However, the team's awful performances in the league and the defeat from Chelsea for the Champions League in Stamford Bridge Stadium angered the president who decided to sack Takis Lemonis, and appoint the team's assistant manager, Jose Segura, just for the remaining matches of the season. The team finally managed to win another double(league and cup), but Segura returned to his previous position. In summer of 2008, Olympiacos made some prominent transfers with Diogo Luis Santo and Avraam Papadopoulos signing in, and appointed Ernesto Valverde from RCD Espanyol as manager, with a contract worth about 6,000,000 € for a three-year agreement.[1] The 2008-09 season, Olympiacos started their official matches with dissapointing performances, against Anorthosis Famagusta for the Champions League third qualifying round, and was eliminated from the tournament, which resulted to a seat in the UEFA Cup first round, where Olympiacos beat Nordsjælland to qualify to the group stage. The team also started good in the Greek Superleague 2009, winning every match at home, but facing difficulties away.

Olympiacos is by far the most successful club in Greek football history. Indeed they have more championships (36) to their name than arch-rivals Panathinaikos (19) and AEK Athens (11) put together, while the Reds have equal number of titles to all the other crowned teams together. Olympiacos also hold the Cup winning-record, with 23.

Crest and colours

Olympiacos' shirt for season 2008-09

When, in 1925, the merger of the two clubs of Piraeus, Athlitikos Podosfairikos Syllogos Pireos and Omilos Filathlon Pireos, gave birth to the new football club, the latter was unanimously baptized Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus, a name inspired from the Ancient Olympic Games, the morality, the vying and the splendor that they represented in ancient Greece. Consequently, the club adopted the laureate teen as their emblem, which symbolizes the Olympic Games winner. Red and white were chosen as the colours of the crest; red for the passion and white for the virtue.

The crest of Olympiacos underwent minor changes through the ages, while the typical kit of the team is that of a shirt with red and white vertical stripes, and red or white shorts and socks. The second most common kit is the all-red one and next the all-white one. Olympiacos has used several other colours during its history as an away or third kit, with the most notable of them being the monotint black or silver one.

The most common kits of Olympiacos during their history are these below (the year of each one is indicant):

Team colours Team colours Team colours
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1971
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1978
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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1979
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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1985
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
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2008

Stadium

Karaiskakis Stadium
Main article: Karaiskakis Stadium

The Karaiskakis Stadium (Greek: Γήπεδο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης) is in the Faliro area of Piraeus, Greece. It is the home ground for the football section of the Olympiacos CFP. Furthermore, it hosts the Greek national football team. The stadium is named after Georgios Karaiskakis, hero of the Greek War of Independence, who was mortally wounded in this area. During their history, Olympiacos also used other stadiums as home ground, mainly the Olympic Stadium of Athens in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, until it was closed for renovation work, for the Athens Olympics 2004. They also used Georgios Kamaras Stadium during 2002-04.

Supporters

Inside the Karaiskakis Stadium during a game Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos
Further information: Popularity of Greek teams

Olympiacos, is the Greek team with the biggest fan base according to most of the polls that have been conducted in Greece.[2] The Reds coming from the port of Athens, Piraeus, was the team of the working class. Since the 1950s when Olympiacos was dominant, winning consecutive titles, their popularity increased throughout Greece and their fanbase was enlarged, to become the most well supported football club. In addition to this, Olympiacos attracted fans from all the social classes and their fanbase changed enough.

Several newspapers and magazines have conducted polls during the last decade, which - more or less - give Olympiacos as the most popular team, with a varying 29-37% among the fans in Greece, which corresponds to around two and a half millions of supporters. According to these polls, Olympiacos is the most popular in the working class, while they are the most supported team in Athens, Central Greece, the Peloponnese and Thessaly. In terms of politics, the vast majority of Olympiacos fans comes from the centre-right and centre-left of the political spectrum.[3]

Olympiacos and FK Crvena Zvezda fans have developed a deep friendship. The fans of both teams have begun to call themselves the "Orthodox Brothers". Many times Olympiacos supporters from several fan-clubs have attended Crvena Zvezda's matches, especially against their old rival FK Partizan, and vice-versa. More recently, the Orthodox Brothers have started to include fans of FC Spartak Moscow.

Rivalries

Olympiacos' main rival is Panathinaikos, in the so-called derby of the eternal enemies. Each game between these two clubs splits Athens and the whole of Greece in two. The rivalry is based on the social status of the fanbases and the fact that these are the most successful Greek clubs in football and the Greek sports in general. Olympiacos used to represent the working class while Panathinaikos the upper class. Now the fanbases of both are almost similar. This derby is considered the classic derby of the capital and Greece, and exists in basketball, volleyball, water polo and other sports. Many times some violent incidents between the fans of the two sides have occurred, like the death of Mihalis Filopoulos, a Panathinaikos fan, in a clash of hooligans supporting the two clubs.[4]

The next major rivals of Olympiacos are AEK Athens and PAOK. AEK is considered the third giant of Greek football, the animosity between the two clubs is intense and got worse when Dušan Bajević left AEK for Olympiacos in 1996. The rivalry between Olympiacos and PAOK started in the 1960s when Olympiacos tried to acquire the "icon" of PAOK, Giorgos Koudas, and exists as the fiercest inter-city rivalry in Greece.

Another classic rival of Olympiacos is Ethnikos Piraeus, the second most successful club of Piraeus but this rivalry is not so fierce anymore due to the fact that Ethnikos plays in lower divisions the last years.

European campaigns

Further information: Olympiacos in European Cups

Olympiacos' best moments at European level came with appearances in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League 1998–99, where Juventus beat them, and in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1992–93 quarter-finals, where they lost to Atlético Madrid.[5]

Olympiacos has a long presence in the UEFA Champions League. Regarding the team's statistics, Olympiacos had to wait ten years and 32 away games in total, to manage their first ever away win in the main tournament of the Champions League, as they ran a record of 7 ties and 24 defeats, until they triumphed over SV Werder Bremen in Weserstadion for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League 2007–08, on October 3 2007. They tend to be a strong home team though, as they were never defeated at home during their first four years in the Champions League, having 13 consecutive undefeated games. Another proof for that is that they achieved one of the biggest victories in Champions League history in the season 2002-03, a stunning 6-2 against the finalists of the previous year Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the Georgios Kamaras Stadium in Athens.

Following the great performance in the UEFA Champions League 2007–08 when they reached the knockout stage, Olympiacos was the victim of one of the greatest surprises in the UEFA Champions League 2008–09 third qualifying round, as they suffered a heavy away loss 0-3 by the Cypriot champions Anorthosis, a score that they were proved unable to override in the second leg. As a result, Olympiacos failed to take part in the group stage of Champions League after eleven consecutive years of participation and compete in the UEFA Cup 2008–09. After eliminating Nordsjælland in the first round with two wins, the Greek team was drawn to play in group stage against SL Benfica, Galatasaray, Hertha Berlin and Metalist Kharkiv. They lost their first match in Uefa 2008-2009 Season Group Stage. (1-0, Galatasaray-Olympiacos, İstanbul)

Season 1998-99

In UEFA Champions League 1998–99, Olympiacos was drawn in Group A for the Champions League, along with AFC Ajax, Porto and Croatia Zagreb. There, "Thrylos" won all three home games, but also managed to secure two away draws and a ticket to the quarter-finals.

There they met Juventus. In the first leg at the Stadio delle Alpi, Juventus beat Olympiacos 2-1 which meant that Olympiacos only needed a 1-0 victory to proceed to the semifinals. A vintage performance, scoring early with Siniša Gogić and never allowing their opponents to create chances, was 5 minutes away to making that scenario come true. However, Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, Olympiacos’s goalkeeper, misjudged the flight of the ball in a seemingly harmless cross and Juventus had the last laugh and escaped with a 1-1 draw from the Athens Olympic Stadium, which was the beginning of the "Late-Goal Curse" that superstitious supporters firmly believe hangs upon the team, especially in away matches.

Olympiacos’ supporters couldn’t believe how they fumbled such a huge opportunity to play in the semi-finals and even though they recognized Eleftheropoulos’ efforts up to that point, great efforts that even earned him the "UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Competition"-award, they still held him responsible for the disqualification and up to this day there is no conversation about the "1998-99 campaign" without a single mention of the goalkeeper’s severe mistake.

Arguably the most impressive incident supporting this folklore tale is the UEFA Champions League 2001–02 away match at Riazor against Deportivo de La Coruña, where Olympiacos managed to turn the game around and led 1-2 from 1-0, when, literally in the last seconds, with the referee ready to whistle for full-time, Eleftheropoulos miscommunicated with his centre-back in another innocent lob and gave away an easy, as unlikely, goal to the opposition forward for an unexpectable 2-2 draw.

Season 2004-05

In UEFA Champions League 2004–05 Olympiacos was drawn in Group A once again, this time against Liverpool, AS Monaco and Deportivo. Rivaldo made an inspiring debut for Olympiacos, in Spain against his former Spanish team Deportivo but "Thrylos" only managed to get a 0-0 draw. The team predictably won all three home games in the freshly renovated Karaiskakis Stadium, notably with the same score, 1-0, meanwhile losing 2-1 away against AS Monaco.

With one match to go and in a very bizarre combination of results, Olympiacos were in danger of being one of only two teams in Champions League history that have managed to collect 10 points and still unable to qualify for the next round. They went to Anfield to play the last match against Liverpool and in order to progress they had either not to lose, or to score and not lose by more than one goal difference.

Rivaldo turned back the years to show the capacity crowd why he was named "European Footballer of the Year" in 1999. He opened the scoring with a foul he earned after an impressive solo-effort for the 0-1 Olympiacos lead, which was the half-time result. Olympiacos needed to concede three goals in the second half to be eliminated and indeed Liverpool managed to score those three goals, with the final result being 3-1, which marked the premature end of yet another Olympiacos' Champions League campaign. Liverpool were the ones to progress and they, incidentally, went on to actually lift the trophy, producing a similar display in the final.

Olympiacos’ 2004-2005 European effort did not end there however, as they were seeded to continue in the UEFA Cup. They were drawn against French team Sochaux for the "round of 32" and proceeded thanks to two more 1-0 victories. In the "round of 16" they faced Newcastle United and were easily eliminated with two losses, thus putting an end to the club’s third most successful European Campaign.

Season 2007-08

Olympiacos in the first leg of the Champions League 2007-08 knockout stage against Chelsea in Stamford Bridge

In UEFA Champions League 2007–08, Olympiacos was drawn in Group C, against Real Madrid CF, SV Werder Bremen and SS Lazio. Following a draw 1-1 to Lazio in Karaiskakis Stadium, it is the season that Olympiacos made their first ever away win in the Champions League, a 3-1 win against Werder Bremen in Weserstadion, turning the game around from 0-1. In the third game, Olympiacos was finally defeated 4-2 to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, 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.

Olympiacos opened the second round of the group stage with a draw 0-0 to Real Madrid in Karaiskakis Stadium and kept alive the record of being undefeated by Real Madrid in Athens in four matches, while the Reds moved a step closer to qualifying for the "last 16" after coming from behind to defeat Lazio 2-1 in Stadio Olimpico. On December 11, Olympiacos smashed Werder Bremen 3-0 at Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens, which ensured their place in the knock out stage of the tournament.

In the knockout stage Olympiacos faced Chelsea. At the first match in Athens, the Reds achieved a scoreless draw against the Blues, but they were eliminated in the second leg in Stamford Bridge after they lost 3-0. Despite Olympiacos' successful European campaign, Lemonis was sacked less than a week later, due to the club's lower-than-expected performance in the Super League. He was replaced by his assistant José Segura.

International Record

Season Achievement Notes
European Cup / UEFA Champions League
1974-75 Last 16 eliminated by RSC Anderlecht 1-5 in Brussels, 3-0 in Athens
1982-83 Last 16 eliminated by Hamburger SV 0-1 in Hamburg, 0-4 in Athens
1983-84 Last 16 eliminated by SL Benfica 1-0 in Athens, 0-3 in Lisboa
1998-99 Quarter-finals eliminated by Juventus FC 1-2 in Turin, 1-1 in Athens
2007-08 Last 16 eliminated by Chelsea FC 0-0 in Athens, 0-3 in London
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
1963-64 Last 16 eliminated by Olympique Lyonnais 1-4 in Lyon, 2-1 in Athens
1965-66 Last 16 eliminated by West Ham United FC 0-4 in London, 2-2 in Athens
1968-69 Last 16 eliminated by Dunfermline Athletic FC 0-4 in Dunfermline, 3-0 in Athens
1986-87 Last 16 eliminated by AFC Ajax 0-4 in Amsterdam, 1-1 in Athens
1990-91 Last 16 eliminated by UC Sampdoria 0-1 in Athens, 1-3 in Genova
1992-93 Quarter-finals eliminated by Atlético Madrid 1-1 in Athens, 1-3 in Madrid
UEFA Cup
1989-90 Last 16 eliminated by AJ Auxerre 1-1 in Athens, 0-0 in Auxerre
2004-05 Last 16 eliminated by Newcastle United FC 1-3 in Athens, 0-4 in Newcastle


Most notable wins

Season Match Score
European Cup / Champions League
1974-75 Olympiacos CFP - Celtic FC 2-0
1974-75 Olympiacos CFP - RSC Anderlecht 3-0
1983-84 Olympiacos CFP - AFC Ajax 2-0
1983-84 Olympiacos CFP - SL Benfica 1-0
1997-98 Olympiacos CFP- FC Porto 1-0
1998-99 Olympiacos CFP - AFC Ajax 1-0
2000-01 Olympiacos CFP- Valencia CF 1-0 1
2002-03 Olympiacos CFP - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 6-2 2
2003-04 Olympiacos CFP - Galatasaray SK 3-0
2004-05 Olympiacos CFP - Liverpool FC 1-0 3
2004-05 Olympiacos CFP - AS Monaco FC 1-0 4
2005-06 Olympiacos CFP- Real Madrid CF 2-1
2007-08 SV Werder Bremen - Olympiacos CFP 1-3
2007-08 SS Lazio - Olympiacos CFP 1-2
2007-08 Olympiacos CFP - SV Werder Bremen 3-0
Cup Winners' Cup
1971-72 FC Dynamo Moscow - Olympiacos CFP 1-2
1992-93 AS Monaco FC - Olympiacos CFP 0-1
UEFA Cup
1972-73 Cagliari Calcio - Olympiacos CFP 0-1
1972-73 Olympiacos CFP - Tottenham Hotspur FC 1-0 5
1999-00 Juventus FC - Olympiacos CFP 1-2
2008-09 Olympiacos CFP - SL Benfica 5-1


Notes

Biggest wins

Season Match Score
European Cup / Champions League
1974-75 Olympiacos CFP - RSC Anderlecht 3-0
1997-98 Olympiacos CFP - FC Mozyr 5-0 1
2002-03 Olympiacos CFP - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 6-2
2003-04 Olympiacos CFP - Galatasaray SK 3-0
2007-08 Olympiacos CFP - SV Werder Bremen 3-0
Cup Winners' Cup
1968-69 Olympiacos CFP - Dunfermline Athletic FC 3-0
1986-87 Olympiacos CFP - Union Luxembourg 3-0
1986-87 Union Luxembourg - Olympiacos CFP 0-3
1992-93 FC Chornomorets Odessa - Olympiacos CFP 0-3
UEFA Cup
1993-94 Olympiacos CFP - PFC Botev Plovdiv 5-1
2008-09 Olympiacos CFP - FC Nordsjælland 5-0
2008-09 Olympiacos CFP - SL Benfica 5-1


Notes

  • 1 3rd Qualification round

UEFA Club Rankings 2009

This is the current UEFA Club Rankings, including season 2008-09. [6]

Last update: October 23, 2008

Rank Team Points
31 Flag of Germany Bayer Leverkusen 56.275
32 Flag of Germany Hamburg 55.275
33 Flag of Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk 55.015
34 Flag of Turkey Fenerbahçe 54.891
35 Flag of Switzerland Basel 53.266
36 Flag of France Lille 51.575
37 Flag of Greece Panathinaikos 51.305
37 Flag of Greece Olympiacos 51.305
39 Flag of the Netherlands Ajax 49.978
40 Flag of Italy Parma 47.027
41 Flag of England Bolton 45.337

UEFA competition record

This is Olympiacos' record in UEFA competitions.[7]

As of December 4 2008

Competition Pld W D L GF GA
UEFA Champions League 104 30 25 49 122 172
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 33 14 6 13 43 47
UEFA Cup 49 23 7 19 71 70
UEFA Super Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0
Intercontinental Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 186 67 38 81 236 289

Current squad

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Greece GK Leonidas Panagopoulos
2 Flag of Greece MF Christos Patsatzoglou
3 Flag of France DF Didier Domi
4 Flag of Brazil DF Leonardo
5 Flag of Greece DF Georgios Galitsios
6 Flag of Greece MF Ieroklis Stoltidis (vice-captain)
7 Flag of Argentina MF Luciano Galletti
8 Flag of Spain MF Óscar
9 Flag of Serbia FW Darko Kovačević
10 Flag of Brazil FW Diogo
11 Flag of Serbia MF Predrag Đorđević (captain)
14 Flag of Poland DF Michał Żewłakow
15 Flag of Spain DF Raúl Bravo
No. Position Player
19 Flag of Greece MF Konstantinos Mendrinos
20 Flag of Brazil MF Dudu
21 Flag of Greece DF Avraam Papadopoulos
22 Flag of Greece FW Konstantinos Mitroglou
23 Flag of Argentina MF Sebastián Leto (on loan from Liverpool)
25 Flag of Argentina MF Fernando Belluschi
30 Flag of Greece DF Anastasios Pantos
33 Flag of Greece MF Ioannis Papadopoulos
35 Flag of Greece DF Vasilis Torosidis
50 Flag of Slovakia GK Pavel Kováč
71 Flag of Greece GK Antonios Nikopolidis (vice-captain)
77 Flag of Slovenia MF Mirnes Šišić
92 Flag of Greece DF Kyriakos Papadopoulos

Players out on loan

No. Position Player
20 Flag of Greece FW Lefteris Matsoukas (to Ethnikos Asteras until June 2009)
24 Flag of Greece MF Georgios Katsikogiannis (to Levadeiakos until June 2010)
27 Flag of Greece DF Konstantinos Lambropoulos (to Apollon Kalamarias until June 2009)
29 Flag of Argentina MF Cristian Raúl Ledesma (to San Lorenzo until June 2009)

Coaching staff

Manager Assistant Manager Goalkeeping Coach Condition Trainer Director of Youth Football
Ernesto Valverde Ion Aspiazu Alekos Rantos

Notable former players

Greece
  • Flag of Greece Fanis Katergiannakis
  • Flag of Greece Alexandros Alexandris
  • Flag of Greece Nikos Anastopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Georgios Anatolakis
  • Flag of Greece Dinos Andrianopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Giorgios Andrianopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Yiannis Andrianopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Leonidas Andrianopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Vassilis Andrianopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Thanassis Bebis
  • Flag of Greece Nikos Dabizas
  • Flag of Greece Giorgos Darivas
  • Flag of Greece Kostas Davourlis
  • Flag of Greece Georgios Delikaris
  • Flag of Greece Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos
  • Flag of Greece Grigoris Georgatos
  • Flag of Greece Stelios Giannakopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Achilleas Grammatikopoulos
  • Flag of Greece Minas Hantzidis
  • Flag of Greece Vassilis Karapialis
  • Flag of Greece Kiriakos Karataidis
  • Flag of Greece Savvas Kofidis
  • Flag of Greece Takis Lemonis
  • Flag of Greece Dimitris Mavrogenidis
  • Flag of Greece Tasos Mitropoulos
  • Flag of Greece Andreas Mouratis
  • Flag of Greece Andreas Niniadis
  • Flag of Greece Kostas Polychroniou
  • Flag of Greece Ilias Poursanidis
  • Flag of Greece Ilias Rossidis
  • Flag of Greece Nikos Sarganis
  • Flag of Greece Savvas Theodoridis
  • Flag of Greece Giorgos Sideris
  • Flag of Greece Panagiotis Tsalouchidis
  • Flag of Greece Nikos Tsiantakis
  • Flag of Greece Ilias Yfantis
Albania
  • Flag of Albania Foto Strakosha
Argentina
  • Flag of Argentina Juan Gilberto Funes
  • Flag of Argentina Gabriel Schurrer
  • Flag of Argentina Cristian Raúl Ledesma
Australia
  • Flag of Australia Chris Kalantzis
Brazil
  • Flag of Brazil Giovanni
  • Flag of Brazil Luciano
  • Flag of Brazil Rivaldo
  • Flag of Brazil Zé Elias
  • Flag of Brazil Edu Dracena
  • Flag of Brazil Júlio César
Bulgaria
  • Flag of Bulgaria Emil Kremenliev
Chile
  • Flag of Chile Fabian Estay
Colombia
  • Flag of Colombia Jorge Bermúdez
Congo DR
Cote d'Ivoire
  • Flag of Côte d'Ivoire Yaya Touré
Croatia
  • Flag of Croatia Martin Novoselac
Cyprus
  • Flag of Serbia and Montenegro Flag of Cyprus Siniša Gogić
  • Flag of Cyprus Michalis Konstantinou
  • Flag of Cyprus Ioannis Okkas
Denmark
  • Flag of Denmark Bent Christensen
France
  • Flag of France Romain Argyroudis
  • Flag of France Christian Karembeu
  • Flag of France Yves Triantafyllos
Ghana
  • Flag of Ghana Peter Ofori-Quaye
Hungary
  • Flag of Hungary Lajos Détári
Mexico
Nigeria
  • Flag of Nigeria Rashidi Yekini
Poland
  • Flag of Poland Andrzej Juskowiak
Russia
  • Flag of the Soviet Union Flag of Russia Yuri Savichev
Serbia
  • Flag of Serbia and Montenegro Ilija Ivić
  • Flag of Yugoslavia Miloš Šestić
Slovenia
  • Flag of Slovenia Zlatko Zahovič
Sweden
  • Flag of Sweden Pär Zetterberg
Ukraine
  • Flag of the Soviet Union Flag of Ukraine Gennadiy Litovchenko
  • Flag of the Soviet Union Flag of Ukraine Oleg Protasov
Uruguay
  • Flag of Uruguay Jorge Walter Barrios
  • Flag of Uruguay Vicente Estavillio
  • Flag of Uruguay Julio Losada
  • Flag of Uruguay Milton Viera

Club officials

Board of Directors

Coaching Staff

Medical Staff

Honours

Total titles: 63

Domestic

League

1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Cups

1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008
1987, 1992, 2007

European

1963

Other

1947, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008

References

  1. "Lemonis leaves Olympiacos post". UEFA.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  2. "Πρώτος στις προτιμήσεις" (in Greek). Ta Nea (1998-02-03). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  3. "Οι μεγάλοι γίνονται μεγαλύτεροι" (in Greek). Eleftherotypia (2004-05-23). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  4. "Fan’s Death Shocks Greece". Goal.com (2007-03-30). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  5. "Club facts: Olympiacos". UEFA.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  6. "UEFA Team Ranking 2009". www.xs4all.nl (2008-10-07). Retrieved on 2008-10-07.
  7. "Olympiacos CFP". uefa.com (2008-10-07). Retrieved on 2008-10-07.

External links

Official website

Official fan site