Europa League: Freiburg Must Avoid a Greek Tragedy

SC Freiburg vs Olympiacos

Europa League action is back this week and there’s a fascinating clash in the diary for Thursday when SC Freiburg entertain Olympiacos at the Europa-Park Stadion.

Freiburg are in a tussle with West Ham at the top of Group A, locked together on nine points, and only the top place guarantees progress to the knockout phase, with the group runners up playing off against a Champions League dropout. So this match, Europa League: SC Freiburg vs Olympiacos, is a biggie!

And then we take the situation of Olympiacos. They are not out of the running, despite sitting in third place and five points behind the leading two. If they can beat Freiburg on Thursday then it is game on. And the Greeks will arrive in Germany in high spirits.

The Bundesliga side come into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw at home to Darmstadt while their visitors beat Panetolikos 3-1

Talking Points

Freiburg need two wins…

If Freiburg can beat Olympiacos, assuming West Ham take care of Backa Topola, there will be a shootout in East London when the two group leaders come together on December 14^th. Freiburg are the outsiders at SBOTOP odds of 5.00 to win the group and head coach Christian Streich will tell his team to take it one game at a time. They started their campaign with a win away to Olympiacos, edging a five goal thriller, and when Freiburg hosted West Ham in October they were in decent form, but they lost that one 2-1. Back to back wins against Backa Topola, 3-1 away and 5-0 at home, put Freiburg in a position where they should at least make the play-offs and they will hope for more.

LIGUE 1

Reims

Strasbourg

CLICK HERE

TO SEE UPDATED ODDS

Beat Olympiacos and they can take top spot if they can exact revenge on the Hammers at the London Stadium.

Player to watch: Vincenzo Grifo

30 year old Grifo has been at Freiburg since 2019 and the attacking midfielder has weighed in with 40 goals in 134 games. He usually plays on the left flank but often drifts in and his clever use of the ball and eye for goal make him a real threat. The Azzurri star has four goals in the competition already and he will make his point in the SC Freiburg vs Olympiacos highlights at some point in the game… and that could spell disaster for the visitors.

…and so do Olympiacos

The visitors have nothing to lose in this game and head coach Diego Martinez will set them up to absorb the home team’s pressure and then strike. Martinez managed Granada and Espanyol in the Primera Division of La Liga and, still only 42 years of age, he’s a bright prospect, and with a 68 per cent win percentage at Olympiacos he is impressing in the Greek League. His team made a slow start in the Europa League, losing to Freiburg and then drawing with Backa Topola. They picked up their first win when they beat West Ham 2-1 and Olympiacos had a chance to open the group up when they met the Hammers again on 9^th November; but they were snuffed out and lost 1-0.

They have shown already they can beat one of the leading teams and Martinez’ team will head to Germany without fear.

Player to watch: Daniel Podence

Daniel Podence will aim to produce Europa League highlights as Olympiacos take on SC Freiburg — Daniel Podence in action during Olympiacos’ match against West Ham United

28 year old Podence is back at Olympiacos, on loan from Wolves after he moved there in 2020. He has scored five goals in his nine appearances since returning to Greece in September and, at 5ft 5in he has a low centre of gravity, hard to knock off the ball and lethal with either foot when he is crossing or shooting.

Top scorer Ayoub El Kaabi scored twice in the earlier match against Freiburg and he will have a good night if Podence sees plenty of the ball.

History

Olympiacos are 47 times Greece Super League champions and were Champions League quarter finalists in 1999, and have since been regular participants in Europe. SC Freiburg are newer to the European scene but have made the Europa League for the second season in succession.

These two teams have met four times over the last decade and the Greeks are yet to win. Freiburg have come out on top three times, including the 3-2 win in Piraeus as Maximilian Philipp scored the 86^th minute winner. Freiburg boss Streich was delighted with the win, saying: “It was a match with many errors by both teams. Had it ended with a draw I would not have objected.”

Recent form favours the visitors who have won four and drawn two of the last six games while their hosts have won one, drawn two and lost three.