today 21:38
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In the 3rd preliminary round of the European League, an obstacle awaits the reigning Slovak champion ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the form of a record-breaking Greek champion. “We’ll see what we can do this time,” said Vladimír Weiss senior. alluding to last year’s elimination by the same opponent.
The Greek Olympiakos has become a traditional opponent of Slovan Bratislava in the European Cup. While in the 3rd preliminary round of the 2009/10 Champions League, the “Whites” were unable to score a single goal against the opponent and lost twice to “Thrylos” 0:2, in last year’s Europa League playoff they were already a more balanced opponent (2:2), even when in the first meeting they lost to the opponent from the Peloponnese peninsula unequivocally 0:3.
An obstacle in the form of a record-breaking Greek champion awaits the reigning Slovak champion this time too – in the 3rd preliminary round of the European League. “Let’s see what we can do this time,” Slovan’s coach Vladimír Weiss st said at the pre-match press conference.
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While Pedro Martins was on the Olympiakos bench last year, Carlos Corberán will be the head of the implementation team in the upcoming doubleheader, for whom Thursday’s match against the “whites” will be his first ever in the position of head coach of the “red-whites”. “He is a coach following Marcelo Bielsa’s style with experience in England who can choose a different system. He is a very good coach,” continued the coach of the team from Tehelné polě.
The new Olympiakos helmsman Carlos Corberán last coached England’s Huddersfield Town. In the first season, he saved the “terriers” by 6 points in the EFL Championship, in the next he led the team with one of the lowest budgets in the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League. In the final, they lost to Nottingham Forest 0:1.
This is also the reason why Vladimír Weiss showed his charges a video of the English club’s meetings before Thursday’s match. “We saw the match with Maccabi Haifa (Kate Olympiakos in the 2nd preliminary round of the Champions League after the results 1:1 and 0:4, editor’s note)but we also analyzed Huddersfield’s matches with a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 formation,” confessed Vladimír Weiss senior.
Vladimír Weiss senior
Source: TASR
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Slovan and Olympiakos will play a double-header with the aim of making up for the failure in the form of elimination in the 2nd preliminary round of the Champions League. The more successful of the pair will not only secure a place in the play-offs of the European League, but will also practically be assured of the group stage of the Conference League.
“Everyone dreams of the Champions League. Olympiakos, which strengthened itself in important positions, also wanted her. But it’s a new day and a new challenge. Last year we scored three goals from free kicks, this year we will try to surprise Olympiakos.” continued the “Whites” coach.
A tumultuous atmosphere awaits Slovan at the Karaiskakis Stadium. Greek fans are known in Europe for their almost religious passion for football. “I hope we play well. We have to give a really great performance. If we can do that, then the Olympiakos fans wouldn’t have to be so noisy.” added Vladimír Weiss senior.
Both coaches have their problems before kick-off. While Ivan Šaponjič (penalty for cards), Vladimír Weiss and Dávid Holman (both injuries) will definitely wear the shirt of Slovan Bratislava on Thursday, Carlos Corberán cannot count on Kostas Manolas, the hero of Greece at the World Cup 2014, and the question mark also hangs over Croatian defender Šime Vrsaljko.
The first match between Olympiakos and Slovan Bratislava is scheduled for Thursday, kick-off is scheduled for 21:00. You can watch the live broadcast of the match on TV Dajto or through the Voyo service.
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