It is safe to say that Olympiacos do not like to play Ukrainian sides, and two wins in nine matchups says it all. The Greeks look to rewrite their history beginning tomorrow as they head to Ukraine to play Dnipro in their first ever envounter against this particular side. Due to the unrest in the region where Dnipro are located, all of their European home matches are being played in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev just under 300 miles away from their home in Dnipropetrovsk. After nearly shocking Manchester United last season and a barely bowing out of the Champions League this campign, Olympiacos looks to put a stamp on its state as the powerhouse of Greek soccer with a deep run into the Europa League.

Olympiacos, located in the capital of Greece, have been the head of Greek football for some time now. With 41 league titles, including four straight, and 26 Greek Cups, it's inevitable that they are the cream of the crop when it comes to dominance in a league. They are managed by Vitor Pereira from Portugal, and this is his first year at the helm of the side. The squad is comprised of about half Greek footballers and half foreign players. Some notable foreign players they have are Felipe Santana, Ibrahim Affelay, and Patjim Kasami as all three of these men have played in the other major European leagues before. The most notable Greek footballer on their squad is striker Kostas Mitroglu who is on loan from Fulham and is currently having his second spell at the club. In the league, the Reds have once again shown their superiority in the league with 13 points from their last five games, and they are six points ahead of rivals Panathinaikos. They are also in the quarterfinals of the Greek Cup with city rival AEK Athens.

Olympiacos' Road to the Knockout Stage: Olympiacos have gotten to this point via the Champions League group stage. Being drawn with Juventus, Atletico Madrid, and Malmo was straightforward task. They started off the tournament flying high with a shock 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid, who was last year's runner-up. In spite of this historical victory, the outlook began to look sour for the Greek side with a 2-0 loss at Malmo, but they followed that up with another stunning victory, this time around it was a 1-0 win over Italian powerhouse Juventus. Regardless of those two tremendous results, the Greeks earned only three more points from their final three games with the only one being a 4-2 win over Malmo. Their struggles on the road was the undoing for the Reds as they failed to muster up even a single point away from home. The best shot they had was the road game at Malmo because had that game gone their way, we would be possibly talking about Juventus in this article, rather than the Greeks. Olympiacos finished third in their group on nine points, just a single point behind Italian champions Juventus. On the bright side though, their home prowess earned them the right to be seeded in the Round of 32 draw for the Europa League as they finished as one of the top four (finished with most points) third-placed side based on points. The squad only has two missing players for tomorrows tie as Botia(knee) and David Fuster(wrist) are both out.

Dnipro, located in eastern Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk, have much less history to their name compared to their Greek opponents. They have not won a major domestic trophy since 1989 and only have three domestic titles(two Ukrainian League titles and one Ukranian Cup) in the club history. The team is managed by Myron Markevych who hails from the country, and the squad is compromised up of mostly Ukrainians, with a few foreign players. The squad lacks some of the more well-known names the Greeks have, but Dnipro has a star of their own in Yevhen Konoplyanka. The star winger for the Warriors of Light has been a target of interest by Premier League clubs the last few transfer windows with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool interested in buying him. Liverpool nearly bought him during last summer's transfer window for 16 million pounds, but Club President/Owner Ihor Kolomoyskyi refused to sanction the move. After finishing runners-up in the league last year, Dnipro are currently third in the league just three points behind Shakhtar for second place. With the league on break until the winter finishes, the team has been playing friendlies to stay match fit. The squad has looked solid in friendlies winning three and drawing two in their last five. They are currently in the quarterfinals of the cup against Choronorets. This time around, the Warriors of Light look to finally get past the Round of 32 in the Europa League achieving this feat twice before including last year.

Dnipro's Road to the Knockout Stages: Inter Milan looked to be clear favorites in Group F, and the battle for second was on as they were fighting for the spot along with St. Etienne and Qarabag. The Ukranian side struggled to get going picking up only one point from their first three games. That game was a 0-0 draw at St. Etienne. Scoring was an issue for the team as they were held scoreless in these games, which includes two home games. The Warriors of Light finally hit the scoresheet with 2-1 road win at Qarabag in Azerbaijan, but progress was stalled as they once again loss to Inter. Going into the Matchday 6, second place was yet to be determined as St. Etienne held the slight advantage on five points just on top of Qarabag by goal differential and just ahead of Dnipro by a single point. Fedetskyi scored the only goal in the match against St. Etienne, and a draw by Qarabag and Inter was enough to send the Ukrainian side through by a single point over the Azerbaijan side. Group stage hero Fedetskyi is out tomorrow with a suspension, and Mazuch is out with an unspecified injury. The Ukrainians scraped by the edge of their teeth in the group stage getting seven points whilst only scoring four goals in six games. That is not the formula for success against Olympiacos, and I see the Greek side, turning the tables on history, and taking a hard-fought 1-0 victory tomorrow night.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Noel John Alberto
Filipino-American sports journalist from Toms River, NJ. UMBC Graduate and aspiring physical therapist. Tennis editor and multi-sport coordinator for VAVEL USA. Writer for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Serie A sections of VAVEL UK. Sports aficionado. Host of the On The Line tennis podcast.