Olympiacos Piraeus

[Festivus]

I was surprised when I found out that Panathinaikos had reached a ECC final back in the 70s which they ended up losing to Real Madrid. Their coach at the time being the famous Ferenc Puskás. Then again, as someone had said in the Hellas Football thread sometime ago, Panathinaikos have usually fared better in Europe than Olympiacos.

They lost to Ajax. Come to Greece, its all their stupid fans ever talk about. 

They used to be better in Europe than us, but not for a long time. Even Asteras are better than them now in Europe! 

Oh so it was to Ajax after all? Memory sure does play tricks on you sometimes 

Well, we like to talk about all the European finals we've reached as well despite not being from one of the best leagues in Europe. And, of course, talk about the 2 we won, well 3 if you wanna include the Latin Cup.

Some users on this forum saw the finals agaisnt PSV and AC Milan in 88 and 90 respectively. Maybe it's a time healing all the wounds kind of thing, but even though they're disappointed we've lost them, they also seem to have some nostalgia when talking about them. Maybe it's because we still won championships more often back then and because it's been so long since we've reached a ECC/CL final and probably wont' reach one again any time soon, if ever. As someone born in 1990, I can't even imagine what must be like having your team reach a CL final and being talked all over the world. When we faced Chelsea in 2013, there was a lot of tlak all over the web, probably because of our opponent being the reigning European champion at the time. I say this because the final against Sevilla didn't have as much pre-match talk about it. Neutrals seemd disappointed that the final wasn't gonna be Juventus vs. Valencia after all. Apparently they thought Sevilal and Benfica ahd average teams and would have ratehr seen Juventus winning the cup. Yes, that would have been pretty interesting and unpredictable, no doubt about it. 

Anyway, there's always a team or another with a lot of supporters and some history in their own country that just can't seem to achieve success in Europe for some reason. Sporting have never been good in Europe. They had a few of their best European runs of their entire history in the last 10 years. Not that that is difficult...

In England, Arsenal have never won anything other than a Cup Winner's Cup(I think) in the early 90s.

In Turkey you have Galatasaray with a better European record than Fenerbahçe.

It's interesting, really.

yea, the European debate is interesting. I think benfica can safely claim to be one of the giants of football. - PAO can't lol  In Basketball Greek teams are among the biggest in Europe..the natural height of Greeks as well as money has helped. Football has been very hard because we could never compete financially. Europe is hard. We can be better, but Greeks move at 1km/h.. We need so much to change. I have got used to OSFP being the underdog and I don't mind, makes victories more special.

I just hope we win the damn EL before UEFA decides to scrap it or something.

[Faliro]

I don't think they will scrap it. Would be stupid to.

[Festivus]

I don't think they will scrap it. Would be stupid to.

It's gonna get harder to win it now that the winner will qualify for the CL group stage the following season. Plus, the CL looks pretty strong this season, so a handful of tough teams might finish 3rd and fight for the trophy until the end.

And if there's something UEFA and FIFA make all the time is dumb and head scratching decisions, so I wouldn't put it past them considering the Europa League doesn't really make them much money. 

[brankinho_gaspar]

Last year we got Juventus and they still were't able to stop us 

[Festivus]

Last year we got Juventus and they still were't able to stop us 

It did come with a price, though: 3 players

[Lm27]

Faliro,what do you think about Roma-Manolas?

[Jotenko]

Faliro,what do you think about Roma-Manolas?

Lm27 is back!

[Faliro]

Faliro,what do you think about Roma-Manolas?

Shitty. Would have preferred him in Spain, Portugal or the Prem.. Greek agents always push Italian or German moves.

Dislike Itialian clubs and Italian football.

[Barto]

I thought Manolas had all set to join Arsenal. 

[Festivus]

Faliro,what do you think about Roma-Manolas?

Shitty. Would have preferred him in Spain, Portugal or the Prem.. Greek agents always push Italian or German moves.

Dislike Itialian clubs and Italian football.

Damn Germans never give you a break, eh?

[sbremoved_28408]

Roma is a great club for Manolas to develop. Would've been better if he was playing alongside a top player like Benatia,but Roma are still a very stable and organized team with a very good coach

[Lisboa_e_Benfica]

Hi Faliro,

Tell me, by the end of last season (2013-2014) which were the 3 top players from Olympiacos in your opinion?

Is Samaris one of them?

[Faliro]

Roberto, Manolas, Domingues.

Samaris was imo brilliant for us - but he was rotated too much in Europe with N'Dinga in key games by Michel. If it was up to me, he would be the first name on list for midfield, but Michel liked Maniatis and N'Dinga for certain big games. He probably though N'Dinga tackled harder.

Mitroglou was immense before his injury and sale in January.

Olaitan was also playing very well before his heart attack a month later.

[poliban]

Roberto...

[PsychoFan]

Saviola will stay in the squad? He is very intelligent, understands the game like few, excellent decision making, but the execution leaves much to be desired. He is very small, fragile, and lost much of his speed. But can probably still be useful for league games and other national competitions. I like him a lot, in his early years at Benfica he was excellent. One of the best players I've seen at Benfica.