A Journey to the Stars

Pre-Season started poorly for Olympiakos but once they found their style of play they quickly bounced up winning 6 of their 9 friendlies. Many players impressed and be sure that they'll get another chance.

Pre-Season

Radnicki 0-0 Olympiakos
Friendly | Cair | Attendance: 3.229 (744 Away)
De la Bella (7.3)

Olympiakos 2-1 FC Red Bull Salzburg
Friendly | Georgios Karaiskakis | Attendance: 11.766 (90 Away)
Dominguez (1), Ansarifard (81)
Alejandro Dominguez (8.3)

Hajduk 4-4 Olympiakos
Friendly | Poljud | Attendance: 5.160 (305 Away)
Cardozo (37,76,85), Fortounis (62)
Oscar Cardozo (9.5)

Olympiakos 0-3 Shakhtar
Friendly | Georgios Karaiskakis | Attendance: 11.779 (85 Away)

Hapoel Be'er-Sheva 0-2 Olympiakos
Friendly | Turner Stadium | Attendance: 50 (3 Away)
Seba (32), Da Costa (P) (85)
Manuel Da Costa (8.1)

Olympiakos 3-2 Braga
Friendly | Georgios Karaiskakis | Attendance: 11.717 (41 Away)
Marin (2), Martins (29), Ansarifard (60)
Andre Martins (8.3)

Llagostera 0-3 Olympiakos
Friendly | Nou Municipal | Attendance: 2.287 (393 Away)
Cardozo (45,76), Seba (70)
Oscar Cardozo (8.8)

Dundee 0-2 Olympiakos
Friendly | Dens Park | Attendance: 5.181 (819 Away)
Martins (81,84)
Andre Martins (8.9)

Diagoras 0-10 Olympiakos
Friendly | Diagoras Stadium | Attendance: 2.933 (889 Away)
Cardozo (11,16), Retsos (13,51), Seba (17), Manthatis (18,23,25,68), Alaixys Romao (49)
Giorgos Manthatis (9.9)

Champions League Qualifying Phase 3

Hapoel Be'er-Sheva 2-4 Olympiakos
Champions League Qual.3 Leg 1 | Turner Stadium | Attendance: 15.583 (1.069 Away)
Seba (29), Martins (65), Retsos (87), Ansarifard (88)

Olympiakos 4-0 Hapoel Be'er-Sheva
Champions League Qual.3 Leg 2 | Georgios Karaiskakis | Attendance: 31.205 (695 Away)
Cardozo (9), Seba (14,15), Elyounoussi (66)
Seba (9.4)



Aggregate: Olympiakos 8-2 Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Graphic looks good mate! Though by the looks of it you desperately need some midfield reinforcements, as well as maybe trimming the wage bill with your strikers? I like the idea of having a friendly against your Champions League opponents before the actual fixture, too - a concept that I might steal from you in my other saves! Congratulations on advancing in the Champions League as well, hoping that you get past the Play Off and into the Group Stages now!

2017-04-20 05:05#241780 Jack : Graphic looks good mate! Though by the looks of it you desperately need some midfield reinforcements, as well as maybe trimming the wage bill with your strikers? I like the idea of having a friendly against your Champions League opponents before the actual fixture, too - a concept that I might steal from you in my other saves! Congratulations on advancing in the Champions League as well, hoping that you get past the Play Off and into the Group Stages now!

Thanks! I have bought some midfield players so don't you worry about that. About the attackers, even though they are many only 2 or 3 are capable of playing as a right attacking midfielder. Either I will train them to play AM(R)s or I'll sell them and buy capable replacements. About the friendly. I decided to have a friendly with them because I wanted to see how they play, and it worked. So I suggest many people do that

Plenty of big names in that squad, you'll certainly need regular Champions League group stage action to pay their wages!

2017-04-20 17:32#241790 Justice : Plenty of big names in that squad, you'll certainly need regular Champions League group stage action to pay their wages!

Don't you worry about that.

The month of August saw Olympiakos reaching the Champions League group stage after beating their "brother" club, Red Star Belgrade. The atmosphere of the two matches, both home and away, was amazing. Red Star fans cheered not only for their team but also for Olympiakos and started singing the Olympiakos anthem. At the 2nd leg, Olympiakos fans started singing and cheering for the Red Star players and fans. That is a great example of friendship in football. Bad thing is Olympiakos' manager Mr. Vergos, missed the start of the Greek Superleague, because a close relative of his got hit by a car. As he announced 2 days later: "Sorry for missing the first game of the season, my uncle got hit by a car but he is fine now. He's at the hospital and he's recovering from a broken foot." Since Mr. Vergos missed the start of the season, his assistant manager Stacey Balik, took charge of the game and everything went well.

Champions League Playoffs

Red Star 1-1 Olympiakos
Champions League Playoffs Leg 1 | Rajko Mitic | Attendance: 42.596 (1.067 away)
Kanga (79) | Ansarifard (68)
Guelor Kanga (7.7) {Red Star}

Olympiakos 3-0 Red Star
Champions League Playoffs Leg 2 | Georgios Karaiskakis | Attendance: 31.840 (1.330 away)
Seba (22,64), Cancarevic own goal (48)
Seba (9.1) {Olympiakos}

Greek Superleague

Olympiakos 1-0 Veroia
Greek Superleague | Georgios Karaiskakis | Attendance: 21.143 (60 away)
Marin (64)
William Remy (7.3) {Olympiakos}

Larisa 0-1 Olympiakos
Greek Superleague | AEL FC Arena | Attendance: 6.235 (2.659 away)
Cardozo (22)
Manuel da Costa (7.6) {Olympiakos}

Stacey actually didn't cost you the games? That's new.

2017-04-20 21:18#241802 ScottT : Stacey actually didn't cost you the games? That's new.

I was like: NO WAY!!!

aaaand through to the group stage

Transfers in

Manolis Siopis

The 22 year old Greek midfielder arrived from Panionios for a fee of 100k Euros. Many suggested that it was a bargain for Olympiakos to bring back Siopis for so little money. He is currently valued at 1.3m Euros and is earning 10k p/w.


William Rémy

William Rémy arrived to Olympiakos from Montpellier for a fee of 800k Euros. The 25 year old French defender is currently valued at 650k and is earning 12.75k p/w.


Mirko Gori

Mirko Gori arrive to Olympiakos from Frosinone for a fee of 1.2m Euros. The 23 year old Italian Midfielder is currently valued at 1.1m and is earning 12k p/w.


Camillo Ciano

Camillo Ciano arrived to Olympiakos from Cesena for a fee of 1.3m Euros. The 26 year old Italian Winger is currently valued at 2.3m and is earning 13.5k p/w


Ricardo Maniero

Ricardo Maniero arrived to Olympiakos from Bari for a fee of 1m Euros. It is suspected that he was bought to replace recently sold Brown Ideye. The 28 year old Italian Striker is currently valued at 875k and is earning 12k p/w

Transfers out

Andreas Bouchalakis loaned to Young Boys

Brown Ideye sold to Sporting for 3.5m*

Stathis Labrou, Antonis Fouasis, Mario Vrushaj and Thanasis Androutsos loaned to club affiliate Anag. Karditsas

*I sold Ideye because he was sold in real life and since I try to keep things as up to date as possible, I had to sell him.

2017-04-21 13:29#241810 Justice : aaaand through to the group stage

Hey gaffer, I think I deserve a wage raise Great August and can'twait for the first CL match!

Champions League groups drawn

The group stages of the Champions League have been drawn. Olympiakos was drawn with Napoli, Leicester and FC Red Bull Salzburg. A press confrence following the draw is gonna start soon.

Press Confrence

Mr. Vergos, what is your reaction to the Champions League group stage draw?

Truth is, that I believe it will be challenging. Facing the likes of Napoli, Leicester and Red Bull Salzburg, isn't going to be easy. I have confidence that if my team plays it's best and we are concentrated, we will get through to the next phase.

Olympiakos and PAOK are only teams representing Greece in the competition this season. Do you think it's possible for a Greek team to win it?

Let's be realistic and aknowledge that this is highly unlikely but both us and PAOK have strong teams that can cause an upset or two.

Speaking of PAOK, they have been drawn against R. Madrid, Leverkusen and Dynamo Kyiv. Do you think they have a chance?

I think that they have a much harder group than us, and I wish them the best of luck. If they play well they can cause many upsets.

Would you agree that your toughest opponents are Napoli?

Napoli is a great team and can really "hurt" us with the likes of Mertens, Insigne and Hamsik. Saying that, I think that they will really cause us trouble and they will surely advance through to the next round.

Thank you for your time but I have to leave now as the confrence is over.

2017-04-21 17:30#241815 Balik : Hey gaffer, I think I deserve a wage raise Great August and can'twait for the first CL match!

Don't worry, you'll get one

Manger's Comments

We started the match really good. We earned a penalty in the 8th minute after Ciano was brought down in the box by Kargas. Fortounis converted from the spot after hitting the ball right down in the left corner. Platanias almost equalised after a mistake from Bruno Viana led Manousos on a 1-on-1 with the keeper, but his shot went wide. We almost scored another goal in the 90th minute when Fortunis hit a corner right on the box, where Botia's header hit the bar after the keeper got his hands on the ball.




Manager's Comments

4 minutes after the game started, a great lob pass from Leozinho led to a half-volley from Perrone into the hands of Kapino. 2 minutes later Cardozo scored a 30 yard screamer from a free kick, causing him to dab for his celebration. At the 20th minute da Costa cleared the ball out of the box with a header, but got seriously injured in the process. The club confirmed that the player had sustained a Hip Injury and that he would be out for 3 months. We had another great chance at the 32nd minute, where a pass from Ciano found Cardozo in the box, where he shot immediately but the ball hit the post. 69 minutes in, Cardozo hits a free kick, the keeper saves it, but Ciano scores on the rebound. 2 minutes later Fortounis' corner, found Retsos whose header led into a line clearance by Grontis. Our 3rd goal came in the 73rd minute, when Figueiras' cross was cleared but Siopis was there to hit the ball from 22 yards into the right corner.





Manager's Comments

I left this match to my assistant manager's hands (Stacey Balik). Let him tell you about the match.
Balik: *speaks on the phone* Yea man, I lost and they f*cking chased me around a forest while I was naked.
Vergos: Dude, I'm recording you...
Balik: Ooops... Yea what do I have to do?
Vergos: Tell us about the cup game you managed...
Balik: Ah right... First real chance came for Xanthi at the 19th minute when Triadis did a great long pass to Hamza who from a very tight angle shot and Leali saved it with difficulty. Just before half-time, a corner from Fortounis landed on Maniero's feet where he had a touch and then shot and the ball went from the bar to Zivkovic's head (their keeper) and the ball went in. 48 minutes in, Elyounoussi run down with the ball, crossed it and Maniero scored with a header. Our 3rd goal and Maniero's hat-trick came 5 minutes later where he had a lightning of a shot from 20 yards out right in the left corner. I was like: "BOOM, GET IN YOU B*TCH". After that, nothing special happened and the final whistle was blown.





Manager's Comments

Leicester's first real chance was at the 29th minute, when Simpson's cross found Vardy whose header hit the upright. Our first goal came at the 50th minute when Huth pushed Seba in the box and Fortounis converted from the spot. 6 minutes later, a great team play led to Ansarifard scoring from a 1-on-1 with the keeper. 60 minutes in, a corner from Mahrez led to a half-volley from Musa hitting the bar. 15 minutes before the final whistle was blown, Vardy dribbled almost all our defence shot, but the ball hit Retsos and the ball went in the net. After that, Fortounis found a space and lobbed the ball to Manthatis who scored after one touch. He came on and celebrated with me, which made me really happy, seeing one of our club's brightest talents coming and celebrating with his manager.




Manager's Comments

In three words, "We got raped". We played really sh*t. Napoli's first goal came 10 minutes in, where Insigne after dribbling many of our defenders, took a shot and scored. Their 2nd goal came in the 61st minute, where Mertens scored from inside the box after a great pass from Insigne. Their 3rd goal, came with 16 minutes left to play, where Insigne scored his 2nd personal goal in this game, directly from a free kick 20 yards out. We had 7 shots, all off target.