Olympiacos Piraeus

[lmoutad]

May I also say something a bit weird.

Ever since I came here to this forum, there has been an exceptionally strong link with Olympiacos and Portuguese players and coaches. I don't know if agents were reading my posts or what but there was something going on here. Olympiacos has been infused with portuguese players ever since. To get to this final would not be possible with out the portuguese elements.

I want to thank you all in here and I want to thank the professionalism of your compatriots who play for Olympiacos.  Podence has been a sensation again. Carmo, Chiquinho... Horta..

Thank you to you all.

Congratulations, Faliro!

Well deserved for Olympiacos, a legendary team from old European football.

Funny thing is, I was used to see Olympiacos dominate the Greek league for years and years... Now that for a change Olympiacos is not doing that well and is losing the titles more often... You reach an European final!!

Football is curious sometimes. Best of luck to the final!

a legendary team from old European football..

I love this description.

Yes, I was always far more pragmatic than many Gavros fans. I always said, a strong AEK, PAOK and PAO actually makes us more robust for Europe and I was willing to concentrate more on Europe as we are not in need of more domestic championships. I also don't begrudge AEK and soon PAO their new stadiums which the state is having to partially fund.

It seems Marinakis too was more interested in Europe too the last few years which I love.

Not a lot in travelling involved for fans to get the final!

Out of curiosity:

In my mind, Olympiacos and PAO are the two biggest clubs in Greece by far, then a few degrees below there is AEK and even more down PAOK.

Is this true? Or is it more balanced?

[Faliro]

May I also say something a bit weird.

Ever since I came here to this forum, there has been an exceptionally strong link with Olympiacos and Portuguese players and coaches. I don't know if agents were reading my posts or what but there was something going on here. Olympiacos has been infused with portuguese players ever since. To get to this final would not be possible with out the portuguese elements.

I want to thank you all in here and I want to thank the professionalism of your compatriots who play for Olympiacos.  Podence has been a sensation again. Carmo, Chiquinho... Horta..

Thank you to you all.

Congratulations, Faliro!

Well deserved for Olympiacos, a legendary team from old European football.

Funny thing is, I was used to see Olympiacos dominate the Greek league for years and years... Now that for a change Olympiacos is not doing that well and is losing the titles more often... You reach an European final!!

Football is curious sometimes. Best of luck to the final!

a legendary team from old European football..

I love this description.

Yes, I was always far more pragmatic than many Gavros fans. I always said, a strong AEK, PAOK and PAO actually makes us more robust for Europe and I was willing to concentrate more on Europe as we are not in need of more domestic championships. I also don't begrudge AEK and soon PAO their new stadiums which the state is having to partially fund.

It seems Marinakis too was more interested in Europe too the last few years which I love.

Not a lot in travelling involved for fans to get the final!

Out of curiosity:

In my mind, Olympiacos and PAO are the two biggest clubs in Greece by far, then a few degrees below there is AEK and even more down PAOK.

Is this true? Or is it more balanced?

"Biggest clubs" is always contentious in Hellas - not to outsiders or Olympiacos fans as the data is clear, but to the cat fighting clubs below olympiacos.. they argue this for decades.

According to infamous survey in 2012 that simply asked "what team do you support" the results are as follows:

Olympiakos - 24% (2,040,356 fans)
Panathinaikos - 20% (1,672,236 fans)
AEK - 9% (793,313 fans)
PAOK - 8% (716,265 fans)
Aris - 7% -

This, like with Benfica's massive support, doesn't include the millions of fans abroad.

The reason the results may seem weird is when Panathinaikos lose or are low in the table, no one admits to being a panathinaïkos supporter. Hence why they are known as "the rabbits" (always hiding). Therefore their support often feels lower than it is. However they are easily the second biggest club by support.

In reverse, PAOK's support is somewhat understated most probably. This is because most of Northern Greece - Macedonia, Thrace etc.. all the towns and cities up there outside of Salonika, usually say they support PAOK. In a similar fashion Olympiacos has massive support across the Aegean and Peloponnese. PAO and AEK are also present there to various extents.

Aris is more of a private members club.   Very loyal fans so their games always have fans there. The third club of Salonika is Iraklis but their fanbase has been in collapse for decades.

[Faliro]

The greatest club from the land of Democracy finally arrives in an European final.
Major congratz!
I hope you guys win it all.

PS: Please tell Marinakis to say FU to EPL and sell the club.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/videos/cjr7k5zll70o

[Cloughie]

The greatest club from the land of Democracy finally arrives in an European final.
Major congratz!
I hope you guys win it all.

PS: Please tell Marinakis to say FU to EPL and sell the club.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/videos/cjr7k5zll70o

He needs to get the hell out, cash out and make a fortune.
EPL don't like him and the club is now in a 3-year stint of being pushed down in almost every match.

[Faliro]

Congrats, Faliro . Hope you guys will take the trophy home.

How's Chiquinho doing ?you guys happy with him?

Put it like this. I would consider getting his name on the back of a replica shirt.

The guy defends, attacks, tackles, gives assists, scores and has superb control.

[Faliro]

The greatest club from the land of Democracy finally arrives in an European final.
Major congratz!
I hope you guys win it all.

PS: Please tell Marinakis to say FU to EPL and sell the club.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/videos/cjr7k5zll70o

He needs to get the hell out, cash out and make a fortune.
EPL don't like him and the club is now in a 3-year stint of being pushed down in almost every match.

Honestly, I don't think the EPL will be able to tame Marinakis.

[Zarathustra]

Congrats, Faliro . Hope you guys will take the trophy home.

How's Chiquinho doing ?you guys happy with him?

Put it like this. I would consider getting his name on the back of a replica shirt.

The guy defends, attacks, tackles, gives assists, scores and has superb control.

Holy shit, that's amazing and utterly astonishing, considering Chiquinho was such a third wheel and basically the "ugly duckling" back here.

In Benfica he was slow, predictable, wholly unremarkable in each and every aspect of the game, didn't tackle nor shoot, didn't employ feints or daring passes, etc.

Notwithstanding his obvious good-spirit and well-liked attitude within the team, he just came across as totally useless and mediocre in fact, his quality and usage had been questioned by all the fans by the end of last season.

Glad to see him reborn from the ashes over there.

PS: And congrats in your European final, will be rooting for you guys!

[Faliro]

Congrats, Faliro . Hope you guys will take the trophy home.

How's Chiquinho doing ?you guys happy with him?

Put it like this. I would consider getting his name on the back of a replica shirt.

The guy defends, attacks, tackles, gives assists, scores and has superb control.

Holy shit, that's amazing and utterly astonishing, considering Chiquinho was such a third wheel and basically the "ugly duckling" back here.

In Benfica he was slow, predictable, wholly unremarkable in each and every aspect of the game, didn't tackle nor shoot, didn't employ feints or daring passes, etc.

Notwithstanding his obvious good-spirit and well-liked attitude within the team, he just came across as totally useless and mediocre in fact, his quality and usage had been questioned by all the fans by the end of last season.

Glad to see him reborn from the ashes over there.

PS: And congrats in your European final, will be rooting for you guys!

Where did you guys play him? Who was you coach at the time?

We deploy him as a false 10 or a pure 10 depending on the game. His touch and vision is incredible.

He gets the ball, one touch - head up and looks for the striker or winger. He also runs at defenders.

I think having Masouras, Podence, Fortounis, Hezze, El Kabi etc around him helps.

[Zarathustra]

Congrats, Faliro . Hope you guys will take the trophy home.

How's Chiquinho doing ?you guys happy with him?

Put it like this. I would consider getting his name on the back of a replica shirt.

The guy defends, attacks, tackles, gives assists, scores and has superb control.

Holy shit, that's amazing and utterly astonishing, considering Chiquinho was such a third wheel and basically the "ugly duckling" back here.

In Benfica he was slow, predictable, wholly unremarkable in each and every aspect of the game, didn't tackle nor shoot, didn't employ feints or daring passes, etc.

Notwithstanding his obvious good-spirit and well-liked attitude within the team, he just came across as totally useless and mediocre in fact, his quality and usage had been questioned by all the fans by the end of last season.

Glad to see him reborn from the ashes over there.

PS: And congrats in your European final, will be rooting for you guys!

Where did you guys play him? Who was you coach at the time?

We deploy him as a false 10 or a pure 10 depending on the game. His touch and vision is incredible.

He gets the ball, one touch - head up and looks for the striker or winger. He also runs at defenders.

I think having Masouras, Podence, Fortounis, Hezze, El Kabi etc around him helps.

Schimdt was the coach, the same fraud that's coaching us as we speak. He was deployed as a central midfielder and he underperformed spectacularly at that.

He was a second-line player, supposed to be a valuable midfield sub, but when Enzo Fernandez departed to Chelsea, he was called up to fill in his shoes, and was perhaps emboldened by this chance as a first-team player, did a few decent games at first. A chant even got written up by the fans disparaging and mocking Enzo and praising Chiquinho back then, but soon after that some quite awful matches followed and he was sat on the bench again.

Nonetheless, Schimdt stubbornly continued to call him as a sub towards the last 30 minutes of most games and his impact was always invisible if not downright negative. He lost balls, didn't pick up the pace when we needed and just felt like he was always one step behind everything. He did score one very important goal against Gil Vicente, in a tough match that wasn't looking bright to us, but other than that, he was mostly useless.

[Faliro]

Congrats, Faliro . Hope you guys will take the trophy home.

How's Chiquinho doing ?you guys happy with him?

Put it like this. I would consider getting his name on the back of a replica shirt.

The guy defends, attacks, tackles, gives assists, scores and has superb control.

Holy shit, that's amazing and utterly astonishing, considering Chiquinho was such a third wheel and basically the "ugly duckling" back here.

In Benfica he was slow, predictable, wholly unremarkable in each and every aspect of the game, didn't tackle nor shoot, didn't employ feints or daring passes, etc.

Notwithstanding his obvious good-spirit and well-liked attitude within the team, he just came across as totally useless and mediocre in fact, his quality and usage had been questioned by all the fans by the end of last season.

Glad to see him reborn from the ashes over there.

PS: And congrats in your European final, will be rooting for you guys!

Where did you guys play him? Who was you coach at the time?

We deploy him as a false 10 or a pure 10 depending on the game. His touch and vision is incredible.

He gets the ball, one touch - head up and looks for the striker or winger. He also runs at defenders.

I think having Masouras, Podence, Fortounis, Hezze, El Kabi etc around him helps.

Schimdt was the coach, the same fraud that's coaching us as we speak. He was deployed as a central midfielder and he underperformed spectacularly at that.

He was a second-line player, supposed to be a valuable midfield sub, but when Enzo Fernandez departed to Chelsea, he was called up to fill in his shoes, and was perhaps emboldened by this chance as a first-team player, did a few decent games at first. A chant even got written up by the fans disparaging and mocking Enzo and praising Chiquinho back then, but soon after that some quite awful matches followed and he was sat on the bench again.

Nonetheless, Schimdt stubbornly continued to call him as a sub towards the last 30 minutes of most games and his impact was always invisible if not downright negative. He lost balls, didn't pick up the pace when we needed and just felt like he was always one step behind everything. He did score one very important goal against Gil Vicente, in a tough match tjat wasn't looking bright to us, but other than that, he was mostly useless.

Strange, we have not played him as CM. I think his stature is quite small for that. Our CMs are Hezze, Iborra, Horta, Alexandropoulos etc.

[Zarathustra]

Congrats, Faliro . Hope you guys will take the trophy home.

How's Chiquinho doing ?you guys happy with him?

Put it like this. I would consider getting his name on the back of a replica shirt.

The guy defends, attacks, tackles, gives assists, scores and has superb control.

Holy shit, that's amazing and utterly astonishing, considering Chiquinho was such a third wheel and basically the "ugly duckling" back here.

In Benfica he was slow, predictable, wholly unremarkable in each and every aspect of the game, didn't tackle nor shoot, didn't employ feints or daring passes, etc.

Notwithstanding his obvious good-spirit and well-liked attitude within the team, he just came across as totally useless and mediocre in fact, his quality and usage had been questioned by all the fans by the end of last season.

Glad to see him reborn from the ashes over there.

PS: And congrats in your European final, will be rooting for you guys!

Where did you guys play him? Who was you coach at the time?

We deploy him as a false 10 or a pure 10 depending on the game. His touch and vision is incredible.

He gets the ball, one touch - head up and looks for the striker or winger. He also runs at defenders.

I think having Masouras, Podence, Fortounis, Hezze, El Kabi etc around him helps.

Schimdt was the coach, the same fraud that's coaching us as we speak. He was deployed as a central midfielder and he underperformed spectacularly at that.

He was a second-line player, supposed to be a valuable midfield sub, but when Enzo Fernandez departed to Chelsea, he was called up to fill in his shoes, and was perhaps emboldened by this chance as a first-team player, did a few decent games at first. A chant even got written up by the fans disparaging and mocking Enzo and praising Chiquinho back then, but soon after that some quite awful matches followed and he was sat on the bench again.

Nonetheless, Schimdt stubbornly continued to call him as a sub towards the last 30 minutes of most games and his impact was always invisible if not downright negative. He lost balls, didn't pick up the pace when we needed and just felt like he was always one step behind everything. He did score one very important goal against Gil Vicente, in a tough match tjat wasn't looking bright to us, but other than that, he was mostly useless.

Strange, we have not played him as CM. I think his stature is quite small for that. Our CMs are Hezze, Iborra, Horta, Alexandropoulos etc.

Truth be told, he was bought by Benfica because he did a very good season at Moreirense as an attacking midfielder, scoring a dozen goals and making a number of assists close to that too.

Unfortunately, he never displayed the same level on the first seasons with Benfica. After a couple of loans, no one believed he would ever make it or even stay at Benfica, but for some reason Schmidt saw him as suited to a different role.

For me, it was dispiriting watching him play, it brought flashbacks from the Benfica teams of the 90's, when our squads were riddled with subpar athletes.

But I have nothing against him as a person, he seems like a genuinely great guy and I'm sure he's 100% Benfiquista. Behind the scenes, he mingled with everyone, never complained or showcased insatisfaction, he was cracking jokes and making friends with his teammates, so I'm glad he found a way to display his football skills again.

[Hiper Benfica]

https://www.record.pt/internacional/detalhe/olympiacos-conquista-taca-de-polo-aquatico-e-diz-que-e-o-clube-com-mais-titulos-na-europa-a-frente-de-benfica-e-barcelona

[Faliro]

https://www.record.pt/internacional/detalhe/olympiacos-conquista-taca-de-polo-aquatico-e-diz-que-e-o-clube-com-mais-titulos-na-europa-a-frente-de-benfica-e-barcelona

I read this. Not sure what to make of it..

[Faliro]

The Gazzetta recorded the very beautiful moment outside the Toumba locker room between Konstantinos Tzolakis and little Yiannis Papastephanakis.
It is one of the beautiful moments that football "gives birth" even on nights like yesterday, when a team, like Olympiacos , lost most of its hopes for the championship.

Constantinos Tzolakis , immediately after the end of the PAOK-Olympiakos derby 2-0, came out of the Toumba dressing room and went straight to meet little Yiannis Papastephanakis, who had made sure to ask to see him in person, because he admires him and due to the common origin of the two from Crete.


The little guy doesn't miss a PAOK match ... taking the jersey of the Greek goalkeeper of Olympiakos as a gift and in the few minutes of conversation he had with the Cretan goalkeeper he wished him, through his pure soul to win the UEFA Conference League: "I hope you get it", he told him!

Konstantinos Tzolakis did not surprise us with his move. He just proved that it is no accident that he is where he is and why he can be an example for the younger ones.

After all, that's what football should be... the video brought me to tears very quickly. Thought I would share the short video  with you.

https://x.com/gazzetta_gr/status/1789744043062145383

[JonSnow]

Buddy, what does 'Toumba' mean in Greek? In Portuguese, 'Toumba' sounds a lot phoneticallly like 'Tumba' - a sepulchre, a grave.