Slovan Bratislava and Olympiacos head into the second leg of their third-round Europa League qualifier all square after drawing 1-1 in Greece a week ago.
The reigning Slovakian champions have only lost one of their previous six matches played at Tehelne pole, while last season's Greek champions are winless in their previous five road games in all competitions.
Match preview
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Bratislava should be feeling a lot better about their chances to advance into the final qualification stage of this tournament than they did a season ago.
Belasi dropped the opening leg to this same Olympiacos side 3-0 in 2021-22 and could only manage a 2-2 draw at home in the return fixture, eliminating them from the competition.
It appears as though they have grown a lot from that experience, advancing into the second stage of Champions League qualifying over the past two campaigns after failing to make it beyond the opening qualification round in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Vladimir Weiss has seen his side squander a pair of advantages in European competition this season, losing the return leg of their second-round Champions League qualifier 4-1 to Ferencvaros after winning the opener 2-1, while they conceded an equaliser in the 86th minute to the Greeks last week.
They have been the class of the Slovakian Super Liga lately, winning four consecutive domestic titles, though Belasi have not been able to achieve that same kind of success in the Europa League, making it into the group stage on only one occasion since 2015-16.
Despite that, the Slovaks have a successful track record when leading or tied after the opening leg of a Europa League qualifying tie, losing out on only one occasion in that scenario since the 2017-18 season, when they squandered a 2-1 lead to Rapid Wien in the third round of the 2018-19 qualification stage, dropping the return fixture 4-0.
Lately, Bratislava seem to be playing better when trailing, winning two of their previous three encounters in all competitions after conceding the opening goal.
They tallied four times in the second half against Michalovce and twice in the final 10 minutes of their first leg Champions League clash with Ferencvaros, winning 2-1.
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The past month and a half has not been easy for the club from Piraeus, who have only managed to capture one of their previous nine matches played in all competitions.
Carlos Corberan has been brought in to try and steer this club back on course, and in his first match in charge, Olympiacos managed to find a breakthrough late to draw Bratislava last week.
Corberan inherits a club that, despite their recent struggles, will have expectations that are far loftier than what the Spaniard experienced in his previous managerial stint at Huddersfield Town, where he coached from July 2020 to July 2022.
In his two seasons managing in the Championship, he employed a direct approach with quick counterattacks and an interchangeability of positions, which may translate well in Greece, where hanging back and defending is usually the first priority.
Thrylos have made it to at least the group stage in each of their previous four Europa League campaigns and have not missed the round-robin portion of this tournament or the Champions League since 2010-11.
Over the past three domestic seasons, Olympiacos have conceded fewer than 20 goals in all but one phase of the competition, allowing 26 in the playoff round last season but still winning the league by 19 points.
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Team News
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Andre Green had the only goal for Bratislava in the first leg against the Greeks a week ago, while Ivan Saponjic, David Hrncar and Jaromir Zmrhal scored in their 3-0 win this past weekend against Skalica, with Adrian Chovan collecting a clean sheet.
Green and Ezekiel Henty, currently on loan at Al-Hazem in the Saudi Professional League, each tallied in their 2-2 draw at home to Olympiacos in that Europa League qualifying leg last season, Ibrahim Rabiu led the Slovakian league in 2021-22 with eight assists, while Hrncar had five.
Only four players who were in the starting lineup in their opening qualifying fixture also began their domestic encounter over the weekend as Chovan, Green, Zmrhal and Guram Kashia all featured in the original 11 against Skalica.
A goal from Youssef El-Arabi helped rescue Erythrolefki in the first leg versus Bratislava, with Mathieu Valbuena picking up an assist on that play.
Georgios Masouras led this team in assists domestically last season with four, while three players were voted MVP of the month in the Greek Super League during that campaign, including El-Arabi (twice), Tomas Vaclik and Pape Abou Cisse.
Vaclik, Cisse, Oleg Reabciuk, Mady Camara, Philip Zinckernagel, Tiquinho and Masouras were the seven players who began their Champions League clash late last month against Maccabi Haifa that were also in the starting 11 versus Belasi.
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:
Chovan; De Marco, Abena, Kashia, Pauschek; Kankava, Agbo; Cavric, Chakvetadze, Barseghyan; Green
Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Vaclik; Pipa, Papastathopoulos, Cisse, Reabciuk; Valbuena, Kunde, M'Vila; Zinckernagel, El-Arabi, Masouras
We say: Slovan Bratislava 1-0 Olympiacos (Slovan Bratislava win 2-1 on aggregate)
Home field should be a significant advantage for the Slovaks, who usually play with much more structure and poise on the back end in front of their fans.
Olympiacos have an extensive experience advantage, but they have not been great in front of goal lately and might need some time to get their defensive shape back in order, conceding eight goals in their previous four matches.
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