Europa League Opponent Preview | OneFootball

Europa League Draw 2024-25

For the first time earlier today we saw the new algorithm system used for the new Europa League format starting from this season which will see the end of group stages and instead see 36 teams placed in a league table where each team plays 8 games with 8 different teams, 4 at home and 4 away, 2 from each of the 4 coefficient pots. Here we also found out Olympiacos’s 8 opponents who he will go against with the goal of advancing to the next round. These are: Rangers(H), Porto(A), Braga(H), Lyon(A), Qarabağ(H), Malmö(A), Twente(H) and FCSB(A). In this article I will be going through each opponent briefly, looking at previous encounters between Olympiacos and ultimately giving my thoughts about the draw.

Rangers

Rangers Football Club, founded in 1872, are of course one of the biggest clubs in Scotland having won 55 league titles, 34 Scottish Cups, 27 League Cups, 7 Domestic Trebles and have also won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 whilst also being runners-ups in this competition twice. First in 2008 and most recently only 2 years ago in 2022 where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt 5-4 in the penalty shootout. However Rangers have fallen since then having not won anything since May 2022, with their fierce rivals Celtic having won all of the major Scottish football  trophies since then. Despite this Rangers still have a good squad but obviously nothing near as good as it was in 2022. The Gers as they are commonly known will travel to Piraeus loud and proud with their excellent away support and should be a really good atmosphere inside Georgios Karaiskakis stadium. This will also be the first time these two clubs play an official game as they have otherwise only gone head to head last summer in a friendly game that ended 3-1 in favour of Olympiacos.

Porto

The other club from Pot 1 that Olympiacos will face is another is Portuguese giants Porto who we last faced 4 years ago in the Champions League group stages in 2020 where both times Porto beat Olympiacos by 2 goals to none. Whilst Porto might to be the most successful domestically, coming second with 8 fewer Primeira Liga titles than fierce rivals Sporting who have 38, they have been highly successful in Europe with 4 European titles, 2 of them being the champions league, in 1987 and the famous 2004 campaign which saw José Mourihno guide them to their second Champions League trophy.

Moreover, one of the biggest successes of Porto, especially in the last few years, has been to consistently develop and sell some of the highest profile players of European football like Luis Diaz and Ederson. Olympiacos will travel to the Dragão stadium to face David Carmo’s former team, and likely being the hardest fixture Olympiacos will have to face.

Braga

Porto won’t be the only Portuguese team Olympiacos will face this fall as we will be hosting some familiar faces back in Greece. Carlos Carvalhal who was Olympiacos’s manager only a few months ago will be coming back to Karaiskakis only this time in the opposition bench. This isn’t something most Olympiacos fans mind as his time isn’t remembered very positively. This however isn’t the case for former player Horta who’s time at Olympiacos is remembered very positively as he was a crucial part in our Conference league campaign and someone who all Olympiacos fans would have loved if he was able to stay past his loan. Many will still be hoping that Horta won’t be in Carvalhal’s bench or whoever the manager might be when Braga visit Greece. This will also be the first time these two clubs meet in a European Competitions.

Lyon

Olympiacos will travel to France to face off Olympique at the Groupama Stadium. They are again one of the most successful club in France with their most notable achievement being the 7 consecutive championships from 2002 to 2008. Since the so-called golden age of Olympique Lyonnais they haven’t since been at the top and have fallen behind other French teams such as PSG. The two have met 4 times, both in the Champions League in the 2000s with Lyon having 3 wins and Olympiacos 1. Mendillibar’s men will try their best to beat some very noticeable names of the last decade like Lacazette and Lovren who find themselves playing there.

Qarabağ

Qarabağ is a club no stranger to Olympiacos who faced them recently in the group stages of the Europa League only 2 seasons ago and I am sure the staff and players will be very relieved that we will be avoiding an away day to Azerbaijan which always proves to be a challenge as it’s a good few hours away and most significantly the weather conditions which didn’t prove to be too nice in Olympiacos’s visit in 2022 which saw the game end level 0-0 and young Ndoj make his European debut. Unfortunately the return leg in Greece proved to be catastrophic as we lost 3-0. We hope that this won't be the case this time around and it would be pretty hard if we are honest as we are nowhere near the position we were in 2 years ago. Hopefully some sweet revenge will be earned in Karaiskakis.

Malmö

Even though we avoided the trip to the far east, we will have to still make a trip to somewhere else cold to a team that recently beat PAOK in the Champions League qualifiers and a team we have faced before in the champions league in 2014 where the swedes came out successful with a 2-0 victory on the second gameweek but via a late minute winner by Mitroglou and Afellay Olympiacos beat Malmö 4-2 on the final gameweek of the group stages which saw Olympiacos move down to the Europa league. Malmö didn’t look too good against PAOK but are definitely a threat going forward and with their season in Sweden having started so early, it might give them a small advantage over us and could definitely be a team to cause some surprises.

Twente

The team from pot 4 who Olympiacos will face at home is none other than FC Twente, the club based in Enschede, Netherlands. Founded in 1965, the club plays its home games at the Grolsch Veste Stadium. They are known for their passionate fan base who travel and follow their team everywhere they go. They have won the Eredivisie once in 2010 and are the club where Ruud van Nistelrooy began his professional career. The clubs last met in 2015 for a pre-season friendly.

FCSB

Originally known as Steaua București, FCSB is one of the most successful clubs from Romania. They were established in 1947 with their most famous achievement being lifting the European Cup in 1986 with the guidance of Emerich Jenei after defeating Barcelona in the final. The club is now known as FCSB as it underwent rebranding and legal dispute regarding its name and history after a separation from the original Steaua Club. Olympiacos will make the trip to the Romanian capital to play at the Arena Națională which will be the shortest away trip we will make. In recent times they have faced once in 2010 in a pre-season friendly which saw Olympiacos lose.

Ultimately I think the draw is pretty fair. We were able to avoid some of the giants from pot 1 whilst also drawing some very historic clubs that promise to be some very competitive games. It’s almost impossible to predict where we will be by the end of these games but I have a feeling that if we are able to beat everyone at home we will be fine as I can only see us struggling at Porto. We are lucky that we will be facing teams like Rangers and Braga at home and if we can beat them I have a feeling we will make the top 8. Teams placed 9-24 play a play-off game where the winner will advance to the RO16 and meet the top 8 whereas the losers will drop to the conference league. Teams placed 25 or lower will be eliminated. Fixture dates and times are yet to come out but be sure that when they do we will post them on our social media pages @ Thrylos 7 International. Hope you enjoyed this read, stay tuned for more in depth previews before the games for each team and let us know what you think of the draw and the new format.