Greek giants Olympiacos and Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa are set for a big clash on Wednesday as the two meet in the return leg of the Champions League’s second qualifying round with the score tied 1-1.
Home advantage has made Olympiacos heavy favorites for the match. Bookmaker 10bet has the odds at 1.35 for the hosts to qualify for the next stage and at 1.71 for Olympiacos to win in 90 minutes. The odds are at 4.75 for Haifa to triumph in regular time and at 3.10 for them to advance.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 26th, 9:00 A.M. (EST)
Haifa found a way to stay in the tie with a late goal in last week’s opening leg. Olympiacos controlled much of the proceedings, but Dolev Haziza struck in the 92nd minute and it created a situation where there’s still everything to play for in the match-up.
Haifa have won the last two Israeli championships and they will be desperate to make it back to the Champions League group stage. The club last featured among Europe’s elite in 2009-10.
If Haifa are going to move past Olympiacos, they will need a big performance from Omer Atzili. The 28-year-old winger had a spectacular campaign last season and was voted Israel’s Footballer of the Year after he racked up 28 goals and 14 assists across all competitions.
Olympiacos are set to dominate the game, but there should be opportunities on the counter for Haifa and Atzili will look to make his mark on these occasions.
The hosts won’t want to settle with only qualifying matches either. Olympiacos were upset by Ludogorets Razgrad in the qualifiers a year ago and had to spend the season in the Europa League. The team will now try to show that they have learned from their mistakes.
The 47-time Greek champions have some good extra help this time around. The defense in particular has received a huge boost with the addition of Sime Vrsaljko. The longtime Atletico Madrid man has all the experience in the world and should become a key piece for the team straight away.
With Philip Zinckernagel and Aboubakar Kamara also joining the mix in the summer, manager Pedro Martins suddenly has a lot of offensive options available to him and it even resulted in top scorer Youssef El-Arabi staying on the bench for the whole game against Haifa last week. The Moroccan veteran, who has scored 78 goals in 153 appearances for Olympiacos, will certainly have a point to prove on Wednesday if he gets a chance to play.
