Europa League
Olympiacos have the minimum against Qarabag but want the maximum against PAOK
Dimitris Christofidellis writes about Olympiacos’ draw with Qarabag, the players Mitchell managed to win, but also about the decisive game against PAOK for the championship.
Under normal circumstances for Olympiacos, a draw against Karabagh away would have been the least they could have achieved. However, the Red-Whites are not back to normal yet, they are taking steps in that direction now, so the one point in Baku was something positive for the Piraeus team.
But even the current Olympiakos could have won in Azerbaijan if he had been bolder, had taken a few chances and some key players had played them through earlier as a change in the game.
Mitchell attempted to balance and manage the spirited potential in the game against Qarabag, also having his mind in the game against PAOK. Someone will say that Olympiacos cannot make discounts and that all games should be everything, but the Spanish manager’s decisions showed that he placed the game with the North’s brace higher than this one with the Azerbaijanis.
Papastathopoulos and Doi were the leaders
The Spanish coach kept on the bench the two main central midfielders Embilla and Inbom Huang (he passed the first of the game at 69′ and the second at 86′), the two main wingers Masoura and Gary Rodriguez (the latter came). in the 86′), but and the two Senegalese stoppers Cisse and Ba.
However, the latter proved to be good for Olympiakos as Papastathopoulos and Doi were the Red and Whites’ best performing footballers along with Paschalakis and Valbuena who played in the last half hour of the game. Kunde and Bouchalakis also had a positive showing.
On the plus side for Olympiacos was the fact that they kept a clean sheet for the first time in a European game during the season and that the point they clinched boosted their hopes of third place against Nantes who went to the knockout stage .-round of the Conference League leads, kept alive away game. As well as “winning” some players through this process of frequent lineup changes.
Given that Olympiacos have had a third coach on their bench since the start of the season, 40 players have been used in 17 games and Mitchell has to manage a different team in the league and another in the Europa League every week, the tie at an away game in Europe is a positive thing.
The red and white have shown an improvement in their image in recent games, but still have a long way to go before they return to the desired level of performance. On the downside, for now, is the lack of confidence the results in Europe have instilled, as well as the fact that the Piraeus side have yet to score in the Europa League group stage – the goal against Nantes came from a Mutousami own goal.
It’s different to have Hames and Bakabou
As easy as Bakabu scores in the league, Ui Jo Huang finds it difficult to create phases. The difference in quality is obvious. However, there are also two parameters that make the situation even more difficult: The potential of the opponents that Olympiacos have had in the championship so far is different from that in Europe. Like other players, Mitchell has 1 in the Super League and others in the Europa League at his disposal.
It’s different for the red-whites to have Ui Joe Huang and Aboubakar Kamara in attack and James Rodriguez and Bakabu another. Even more so if, in the first case, footballers who can support them remain on the bench – as in the game against Qarabag – like Embila and Inbom Huang.
Now the Olympiacos coach and players have flipped the switch and focused solely on the game with the brace in the north. Finally, before the match in Baku, Mitchell prepared for this game. The Red-Whites have the minimum against Qarabag, but they want the maximum against PAOK in Karaiskakis. In a match where the Spanish coach has more face options.
Olympiacos is therefore aiming for its third consecutive victory in the championship, after those against Atromitos Athens and OFI, both for reasons of scoring and for the prestige and psychology of its football players. A game played in crowded Karaiskakis that is much more than just a game for the Piraeus team.
Source: sport 24
I have been working as a sports journalist for about 6 years now. I currently work as an author at Sportish, which is a sports news website. I mainly cover sports news and I love writing about all aspects of the sport. I also have experience working as a broadcast journalist, so I have some great insights into how sport is reported and presented.
Europa League
Poland took the lead. Who is competing for an additional place in the Champions League?
The two countries with the highest UEFA coefficient at the end of a season will gain an additional entry. Champions League 2026/27.
Like last year, 36 clubs will compete in the main stage of the European Cup main tournament. Two of these will be determined by rating.
All important moments of the match are available in LIVE mode Telegram Sport.ua
The two best-ranked countries in the 2025/26 season will each send one more team to the 2026/27 Champions League.
Next single season rankings:
- P.Olsha (13,625), England (13,486), Germany (12,285), Cyprus (11,406), Italy (11,250), Spain (11,218), France (10,714), Portugal (10,600), Greece (9,500), Denmark (9,500)
The top two countries on this list will be given an additional place in the 2026/27 Champions League.
Leadership Poland It’s about getting bonuses in the Conference League. Three Polish clubs reached the LK play-offs at the same time: Rakow, Lech and Jagiellonia. And only Legia Warsaw withdrew from the tournament.
Ukrainian It ranks 15th among 55 countries in the UEFA single season rankings with 6,812. Shakhtar Donetsk advanced directly to the 1/8 finals of the Conference League and Dynamo Kiev was eliminated from the tournament.
UEFA coefficient For national associations, it is calculated based on the total number of points scored by all clubs in the country. 2 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and bonus points are also taken into account. Points received in the qualifying rounds are multiplied by 0.5 times. The total amount is divided by the number of teams representing the country in the European Cup season.
Race for two additional places in the 2026/27 Champions League (top 10)
Top 15 countries in the UEFA rankings for the 2025/26 season
UEFA five-year rankings
Source: Sport UA
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
english team Aston VillaThe player continues to show incredible form and has already won his 10th consecutive victory in different tournaments.
The successful series includes 7 Premier League matches and 3 Europa League matches. This is a new club record for Aston Villa.
The last win came on 21 December, when the home team beat Manchester United 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham.
This winning streak has allowed Aston Villa to secure a place in the top 3 (36 points) of the Premier League standings, ahead of Arsenal (39) and Man City (37).
In the Europa League, Unai Emery’s team safely passed the league stage and entered the top 3 together with Lyon and Mittjylland (15 points out of 18).
Aston Villa’s 10-match winning streak
- 21.12. 19:30. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Manchester United – 2:1
- 14.12. 16:00. nuclear submarine West Ham – Aston Villa – 2:3
- 11.12. 22:00. LE. Basel-Aston Villa-1:2
- 06.12. 14:30. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Arsenal – 2:1
- 03.12. 21:30. nuclear submarine Brighton – Aston Villa – 3:4
- 30.11. 16:05. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Wolverhampton – 1:0
- 27.11. 19:45. LE. Aston Villa – Young Men – 2:1
- 23.11. 16:00. nuclear submarine Leeds – Aston Villa – 1:2
- 09.11. 16:00. nuclear submarine Aston Villa – Bournemouth – 4:0
- 06.11. 22:00. LE. Aston Villa – Maccabi Tel Aviv – 2:0
Aston Villa’s winning streak in the 2025/26 season
Source: Sport UA
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
Ukrainian defender Nottingham Forest Alexander Zinchenko He shared his feelings after his team beat Utrecht (2:1) in the main round of the Europa League.
“It’s a great feeling. First of all, I’m back. Secondly, it’s an incredible feeling to win a match. Getting three points today was very important for us. As you can see, it was a difficult match. But at the end of the match, I think we got what we wanted and let’s continue like that.”
“As a defender you always want to keep a clean sheet, but unfortunately we couldn’t do that today. So it’s something we need to work on in the future.”
“This is one of those matches where whoever wins the most challenges in different areas of the field will win the match. Today we won many more goals which helped us a lot in the game. But to be honest, even the opportunities we created, including me, we should have scored and finished this match earlier,” said Zinchenko.
Nottingham Forest is in 11th place in the rankings with 11 points after 6 matches in the Europa League this season.
Source: Sport UA
Hi, my name is Jayden James. I am a writer at Sportish, and I mostly cover sports news. I have been writing since high school and have been published in various magazines and newspapers. I also write book reviews for a website. In my free time, I enjoy playing soccer and basketball.
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