Third competitive game with Corberan on the Olympiakos bench, third draw 1-1. Slovan’s qualification came on penalties, but the Spanish coach would certainly understand that he has a difficult job.

He has taken on a difficult task, he is in a team that has been spoiled by success, the core of which, the players who have brought success, have declined sharply in the past season and the transfers that have been made have not prevailed.

The preliminary round slowed down the changes

Last year it was said that many changes were needed and that Olympiakos and Pedro Martins had the opportunity to leave without the harm of failure. But the club had to get in early in qualifying, which meant Martins and last year’s side were given a chance. An opportunity that in reality could not be used.

This difficult reality faced by teams forced to enter the qualifying process has brought change more slowly than it should have.

Huang became the occasion to make the world of Olympiacos smile again

The match against Apollon Limassol was further proof of how much this side needs fresh blood. About footballers who come and inject energy. Soccer players who will do what Huang did in the goal phase. They take the ball and run vertically between the opponent’s lines.

The Korea midfielder not only gifted Olympiakos the goal, he was also a reason for the people of the team to smile after a long time. He showed elements that were missing from the team last year. Fresh, vertical running, amazing ball handling with his back, fast rotation, poetic thinking and passing to his teammates.

From 19′ to 66′ he made the game a personal show

After Apollo’s goal, he came into play and turned the game into a personal show until he asked for a change. He brought a simplicity and freshness to Olympiakos’ game and brought his teammates into play as well.

He had a very good partnership with the left flank, which, unlike the previous games, the Ryabchuk, Zinkernagel duo worked well and produced attacks. He was able to bring Radjelovic into play and overtake him on the run, creating clear goalscoring moments for Arabi.

There isn’t a good time that he hasn’t been involved

At Olympiakos, they have to think about the image their side had in the times when Koriatis wasn’t there. That is, in the first part of the game and in the image of the team from the moment he left.

All the good that Olympiakos created, Huang had within him, he created the rest. You will hardly find a good moment that he wasn’t a part of. Its image certainly brings a smile and inspires optimism, but there are serious problems.

Must get the new “killer”.

It is clear that El Arabi this year will not be what we have known. The years pass and begin to show in the body, movements and confidence of the Moroccan. Huang played like the Moroccan was the ‘killer’ we knew, he scored two goals.

Mind you, I’m not saying he’s done, he’s sure to bring wins and big goals to the team. However, Olympiacos will need the remaining days until the transfers are finalized to find his replacement. The striker who gives his coach the right to leave Arabi on the bench without his image showing he made a mistake as was done with Tiquinio in the Martins era.

In other words, he needs a striker capable of scoring the goals that Arabi can’t deliver from now on.

Three Intervals

As I mentioned above, the game had three periods. In the first part, Corberan presented a fearful team that had let the Cypriots have the ball. He waited for them in the center of the room and was generally passive until his goal in the 19th minute.

There was the second part where Huang became the maestro of the game, brought his teammates into the game and really set the stage for Olympiacos to clean up the qualification from the first game. Apollos made space and surely with a better right winger than Radjelovic and a more effective El Arabi a clear win would come.

There is also the latter part, from the moment Huang came out, which was similar to the start of the race, except that when he came off the field and Zinkernagel, who had passed the axle, there was better upward pressure . In the end, he gave measures without being justified by the opponent’s image, paying a few centimeters for it not dearly.

Huang made him more creative

Surely Olympiacos created more than the previous four games they gave. But if we look at the game as a whole, that’s not due to any progression it had overall. In practice, only the function of the left side was improved by the collaboration between Reabchuk and Zinkernagel.

The real progress came from the quality, freshness and creativity brought by the presence of a new player. Huang has changed Olympiakos for the better for a long time and is moving forward. The team needs two or three players who can enter and change the field. Give the others impulses, bring speed and freshness.

With the game at his feet for Huang, Apollon showed a very light team for Olympiakos. It will be extreme if he doesn’t get his first win in the process next week.