Imanol gets his first win as Olympiacos overturn Jagiellonia 2–1 | OneFootball

Olympiacos vs Jagiellonia Bialystok, Europa League League Phase, Matchday 1 - Giorgos Matthaios/EUROKINISSI

Roman Yaremchuk had been on the pitch for only a matter of minutes when Remo Freuler looked toward the penalty area. Olympiacos had spent most of the evening attacking it. Twenty-five shots. Thirteen corners. Forty-seven touches inside Jagiellonia's box.

Still, with six minutes remaining, the scoreboard read 1–1. Then Freuler delivered. Yaremchuk attacked the ball.

Header. Goal. Karaiskakis erupted and Imanol Alguacil finally had his first victory as Olympiacos manager.

Olympiacos defeated Jagiellonia Białystok 2–1 on Wednesday night, recovering from a first-half deficit through goals from Armando González and Yaremchuk to begin their Europa League league-phase campaign with three points. Yet reducing this match to a late winner would obscure what actually happened.

Olympiacos did not steal three points. They eventually collected the result their performance demanded.

The scoreboard lied for most of the evening

Jagiellonia scored first. That part matters because it created precisely the sort of situation capable of making a team undergoing a coaching transition nervous. Kajetan Szmyt struck in the 20th minute. Olympiacos were suddenly behind at Karaiskakis. This was Imanol's European debut with the club. The pressure immediately increased, but something encouraging happened next.

Olympiacos did not lose their structure, they kept playing. Hormiga González equalized shortly before halftime, scoring in the 43rd minute and giving Olympiacos the reward their pressure increasingly deserved. The second half then became almost entirely one-way traffic. Jagiellonia recorded zero shots after halftime.

Zero.

Olympiacos finished with 25 attempts to four, 13 corners to none and 47 opposition-box touches compared with Jagiellonia's 11.

Expected goals finished 2.53 to 0.52.

That is not the statistical profile of a fortunate comeback. It is the profile of sustained territorial control.

Freuler may already be becoming the system's reference point

There was plenty to like individually, but Remo Freuler's influence deserves particular attention. The Swiss midfielder finished with three key passes and created three big chances, generating a match-high 0.543 expected assists. He eventually he created the decisive goal.

That is significant because Freuler's role under Imanol appears capable of becoming much larger than simply circulating possession. His intelligence allows Olympiacos to alter their midfield geometry without making obvious substitutions. He can drop alongside Hezze. Advance beyond him. Receive between pressing lines or arrive around the edge of the final third and deliver.

The winning goal came from exactly the kind of situation in which experienced midfielders become invaluable: late in a European match, when tactical structures have loosened and recognizing the right action matters more than executing another rehearsed sequence. Freuler saw Yaremchuk. Yaremchuk finished.

Hormiga justified Imanol's biggest selection call

Before kickoff, centre-forward represented the most interesting decision. Imanol chose Hormiga González rather than Yaremchuk. Hormiga rewarded him. His 43rd-minute equalizer was his first European goal for Olympiacos and came at an important psychological moment.

Going into halftime 0–1 down would have changed the emotional temperature inside Karaiskakis.

Going in level allowed Imanol to make adjustments without chasing the match. Hormiga's movement also repeatedly created problems for Jagiellonia's defensive line. The interesting part is what happened later.

Imanol did not have to decide between Hormiga or Yaremchuk across 90 minutes. He used both. One started and scored. The other entered and scored. That is exactly how squad depth is supposed to function.

Yaremchuk provided the alternative

The Ukrainian's winner demonstrated why having stylistically different centre-forwards matters. Hormiga's mobility can manipulate defenders. Yaremchuk gives Olympiacos a more obvious penalty-area reference. When a defense has spent 75 or 80 minutes moving laterally, blocking shots and defending repeated entries into its box, introducing a fresh physical striker changes the problem. The defender is tired. The substitute is not.

Freuler's delivery provided the opportunity. Yaremchuk attacked it and scored in the 84th minute. It was not simply a substitute scoring. It was a substitution changing the type of question Olympiacos were asking Jagiellonia's defense. Soon, Marius Mouandilmadji will provide yet another version of that question domestically.

The 13–0 corner count tells its own story

Corners are not inherently evidence of good attacking football, but 13–0 is evidence of territory. Combine it with 25–4 shots, 68–24 final-third entries and 47–11 penalty-area touches and the picture becomes clearer.

Olympiacos spent the evening forcing Jagiellonia backward. The Polish side made 48 clearances. That is extraordinary.

It means this was effectively a prolonged defensive exercise for the visitors. The criticism for Olympiacos is obvious too. A team generating 11 big chances cannot routinely require the 84th minute to score its second goal. Sofascore's data credits Olympiacos with nine big chances missed.

Against stronger Europa League opponents, that inefficiency may be punished. Tonight it wasn't.

Imanol now has something he desperately needed

Managers arriving during a season do not receive the luxury of experimentation without consequences.

Imanol inherited Olympiacos after the campaign had already begun. He is attempting to introduce his ideas while simultaneously producing results. That is one of football's most difficult balancing acts.

Wednesday therefore mattered beyond three Europa League points. The players received evidence that maintaining the structure after conceding could produce a comeback. The manager received evidence that his team can dominate territory. Hormiga received a European goal. Yaremchuk received a winner. Freuler demonstrated why he can become central to the new midfield and Karaiskakis received the kind of European ending it understands particularly well.

There are still problems to solve. Finishing must improve. The opening defensive vulnerability cannot become habitual and stronger opponents will punish mistakes more ruthlessly than Jagiellonia did. But rebuilds require proof.