UCL Olympiacos FC VS Maccabi Haifa – Match Prediction
Team Analysis
Olympiacos F.C.
Forty-seven League titles, 28 Cups (18 Doubles), and 4 Super Cups under its belt, Olympiacos got the chance to be the most successful club in Greek football history. With 79 national trophies, Olympiacos ranks ninth among football clubs in total titles.
Olympiacos is holding the record for the most consecutive Greek League titles, having won seven in a row on two separate occasions, breaking their previous mark of six straight victories in the 1950s, when Olympiacos was unmistakably known as Trylos. It is further evidence of the club’s overwhelming success.
Maccabi Haifa F.C.
It has won fourteen league championships, six State Cups, and five Toto Cups. During the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League season, Maccabi Haifa became the first Israeli club to qualify for the tournament group stage. They also became the first Israeli team to win both the title and the cup in the same season (a feat known as a “double”). Regarding qualifying for the Champions League group stage, Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv share the record with two each. Maccabi Haifa won the Premier League in 2020–21, the club’s first title in ten years.
UCL Olympiacos FC VS Maccabi Haifa – Match Prediction
Match prediction
Olympiakos has a strong pedigree, and the victor of this matchup will face Apollon Limassol in the third qualifying round for these Champions League qualification stages. Last season, the home team won its domestic league by a comfortable margin, this time a whopping 19 points in the Greek Super League.
Olympiakos hopes to put their poor preseason showing behind them and build off their success at home over the past year, where they’ve only lost three of their last 28 games in the regular season. Pipa and Vrsaljko are both strong candidates for the right-back spot, and Camara, Kunde, and Valbuena are capable of starting in the middle of the field; Martins will have to make some tough calls to get the most out of his deep roster.
Maccabi Haifa’s four-game losing record in all competitions was snapped last week when they played Olympiakos to tie in the first leg at their Sammy Ofer Stadium. It’s possible, though, that the Israeli visitors may feel squandered a chance to get a foothold in this second-round qualifying match. Despite the 1-1 stalemate, Maccabi Haifa’s recent losing skid in all competitions, including two earlier losses to Hapoel Be’er Sheva on penalties in the domestic State Cup and Super Cup, is not encouraging.
Away results in the Champions League have been dismal for the Israeli team, and preseason friendly against Mechelen and Vitesse also resulted in defeat. Maccabi Haifa’s forthcoming trip to the Karaiskakis Stadium could be just as challenging as their previous six away games in this competition, which they lost at Bordeaux, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Borac Banja Luka, Genk, and Kairat. For Maccabi Haifa, midfielder Mahmoud Jaber is sidelined after injuring his thigh in the Israeli Super Cup earlier this month and will not play.
Olympiakos, playing at home, should be able to secure a win.
Mahimantha Chathuranga
Football enthusiastic & sports analyst based in Sri Lanka.
admin@icloudlk.com
