Why You Should Follow Olympiacos This Season. | OneFootball

The pre-season friendly games are now complete, Jose Luis Mendilibar has put his players through their paces over the past month and now the serious business begins - the start of the 2024-25 season is upon us. This follows a close season that for many Thrylos(Greek for “Legend”) fans seemed like an eternity and, in contrast, also appeared to disappear within the blink of an eye. An unparalleled high ended last season, yet with every passing day that memory seems increasingly like a distant memory. With fans desperate to see the players take to the field once more in competitive action.

Whoever you may be, a hardened Olympiacos fan with decades of support under your belt, a neutral fan with a passing interest, or even someone that had never heard of the club until the UEFA Conference League final, there is plenty of reasons why you will want to follow Olympiacos this season. The 2024-25 season promises to pick up where the last one finished – packed with entertainment, drama and suspense. There is never a dull moment at Olympiacos, so you never struggle for a reason to follow the club. If, however, you still need convincing as to why to choose the upcoming season to follow Olympiacos, continue reading as Thrylos 7 International bring you all the reasons why this is destined to be a season not to forget.

An Unimaginable 2023-24

It would be impossible to look to the season ahead without looking back at the season that has just passed. The 2023-24 season was an incredibly long season, kicking off the first friendly match during an Austrian training camp on 8th July. The curtain then eventually came down with a party in Piraeus city centre as the sun was rising on the morning of 30th May!

The season started under Diego Martinez, the first of three permanent head coaches that would take charge over the course of the season. The Spanish coach remained in the hot seat until the first week of December before being relieved of his duties. Martinez’s reign started well, unbeaten in the league in the first seven games – only dropping points in a 1-1 draw at AEK. Results slowly started to flounder, however, both in Greece and Europe. A 2-4 loss at home to PAOK was particularly hard for the fans to take. As the calendar turned from November to December, the side followed up a Europa League 5-0 humiliation away at Freiburg with an underwhelming 2-2 draw at Volos. Evangelos Marinakis had seen enough and called for a change. Martinez was out the following day with Portuguese manager, Carlos Carvalhal, brought in one day later.

Carvalhal, who boasts Besiktas and Sporting CP amongst his former clubs, would remain at the club for an even shorter reign – appointed in the first week of December and dismissed just one week into February. Some disappointing results in the league culminated with an embarrassing 2-0 loss away at archrivals Panathinaikos – just weeks after they dumped us out of the Greek Cup. With a vital two-legged tie against Ferencvaros for the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs on the horizon another change was called for. Carvalhal was dismissed after just 65 days at the club. Although results on the field may have been frustrating, his tenure will be remembered fondly for the moves made during the January 2024 transfer window. Several players were recruited that would prove to be vital in the success that was to unfold for the remainder of the season.

Little did we know at the time, but the season’s great finale was just about to get underway. Staying on trend, Marinakis once again looked to Iberia to recruit his next manager. Jose Luis Mendilibar was his chosen man, recently sacked by Sevilla just months after winning the club it’s seventh Europa League title.

Mendilibar had mixed success domestically - winning the four remaining regular season games to set the side up with a realistic chance of challenging for the title during the play-offs, unthinkable just weeks earlier. The side had left too much to do in the league, however, and still competing in Europe while trying to win the league proved too much. Winning only five of the ten play-off matches and losing a game to each of our three most fierce rivals meant the domestic title wasn’t to be.

The fans, however, were soon able to overcome the shortcomings at home as what was to be achieved on the continental stage was to prove to be monumental. The new coach started his reign with 1-0 wins home and away to ensure qualification to the Conference League Round of 16. Maccabi Tel Aviv, managed by Ireland all-time top scorer Robbie Keane, were the opponents. Mendilibar’s men were humbled 1-4 at home, a shock result that hit the club for six. All connected to the club had accepted defeat, knowing any chance of playing away from home and overturning such a scoreline had never been done before. We were staring at a European exit. All we could do was play for pride in the second leg and return our focus to league matters and start looking to the summer. The club travelled to Serbia, where Maccabi played their home tie due to the conflict in their homeland and pulled off the most unimaginable turnaround. Come half time the tie was level on aggregate – 3-0 on the night! The dream had started. The Israelis found the net first in the second half, but the Thrylos tails were up – they were not prepared to exit Europe that night. The game was forced to extra time and the Greeks came out on top - scoring twice to progress with a 5-7 aggregate victory.

Olympiacos were through to the quarter finals and drawn against Turkish giants Fenerbahce in a mouthwatering tie. The first leg was played at the Karaiskakis Stadium and the Red & Whites raced to a 3-0 lead with less than an hour played to send the home fans into raptures. The Turks pulled two goals back before the end of the game, however, to ensure there was still work to be done the following week in Istanbul. The away leg ended 1-0 to the home side to set up a nervy period of extra time. The score remained after the additional half hour resulting in a penalty shootout. Having recently been promoted to first-choice goalkeeper, Kostas Tzolakis produced a heroic display for the ages – saving three spot kicks to send the club into the semifinals of a European competition for the first time.

A Golden Generation Emerges

Meanwhile, as the senior side were tackling and overcoming each European obstacle that fell in their way, the club’s youth side were paving their own path to success. The 2023-24 season of the UEFA Youth League proved a happy hunting ground for Olympiacos U19s. The campaign started with success over Italian side Lecce, two 3-1 wins, home and away, secured a place in the second round where they would breeze past Azerbaijani youth champions, Gabala, with a comfortable 7-0 win over two legs. Stars were then in the eyes of the youngsters as tough opposition faced them with each passing round. Inter Milan were up first where they progressed from a penalty shootout after a goalless draw, which then led them to another victory at the hands of shootout success – overcoming tough French opposition in the shape of Lens after a 2-2 draw. Formidable opponents, Bayern Munich, were disposed of with a 1-3 win in the quarter final before facing French opposition once more in the semifinal. A goalless draw was played out in Nyon, Switzerland which saw the side rely on their penalty expertise again as they overcame their third penalty shootout on their route to the final. The final was played, again in Nyon, three days later. AC Milan stood between the young Thrylos stars and the opportunity to win a first European title for any Greek side at any level. The name AC Milan is enough to strike fear into any player let alone players as young as those that took to the field that day. Having already overcome giants along the way, the kids were unfazed. An AC Milan side managed by club legend Ignazio Abate were convincingly beaten. With three goals in six second half minutes that will live long in the history of Greek football earning the side a much deserved 3-0 victory. Olympiacos of Greece were champions of Europe at youth level. The season was a success for the club, no matter what would happen for the remainder of the season with the senior squad. The U19 side had set the precedent, they were handing the baton over to the men’s side – as if to say, “It’s over to you, finish what we have started”.

Aston Villa, Fiorentina, and a Conference League Title!

The club had drawn Aston Villa in the semifinal. Tough opposition as they were in an intense battle for fourth place in the notoriously tough English Premier League, a position they would end the season in – qualifying the club for the Champions League. The first leg was played away in the English second city. The atmosphere around the ground was electric with both sets of fans anticipating what lay ahead for the victor. Thanks to two Ayoub El Kaabi goals in the opening half hour of play the Greeks raced to a 2-0 lead. As I stood in the away end that night, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – at that moment I dared to dream. The dream was squashed ever so slightly as the home side halved the deficit at the stroke of half time. Seven minutes into the second period the dream was all but extinguished as Villa pulled the tie back with an equalising second goal. We were up against it at that point, the home crowd were lifted, and the realisation that with Premier League opponents they would be too strong and from that moment on would work through the gears and continue the comeback to win the tie and reach the final. It’s what the bookmakers' odds indicated would happen and it’s what all neutrals across the globe assumed would happen. As Mendilibar’s men had already shown this season, they relished a challenge and loved to prove the doubters wrong. El Kaabi converted a penalty just four minutes later to give the side the lead once again before Santiago Hezze reestablished a two-goal lead with the team’s fourth goal on the night with 23 minutes left to play. As I celebrated wildly with all the other fans tucked away in that bottom corner of the Graham Taylor stand that dream was not only reignited, but the dream had also become belief. I, like all the other fans, started to believe that this side playing out in front of us really could go all the way. Before the game was done the home side were awarded a penalty which they failed to convert – which only further heightened the celebrations.

After the fans came back down to Earth after such a high, the realisation set in that the job wasn’t done. A two-goal lead was valuable in the tie, but the strength of the opposition could not be overlooked – it would just take the English visitors to score first in Piraeus for the nerves to set in and change the complete outlook of the tie. The second leg saw an incredible turnout from the fans – there wasn’t an empty seat in the stadium and from those that were there it is widely regarded as the most electric atmosphere the Karaiskakis has even witnessed. Too coin a well-used cliche, the fans truly were the 12th man that night. On the night the side didn’t put a foot wrong and progressed with relative ease, two goals, again from El Kaabi, ten minutes into the game and 12 minutes before the end to wrap up an unbelievable tie against English opposition with a 6-2 scoreline.

Thrylos had achieved what was the unthinkable just two months earlier. Reaching the final of a European competition, a feat only achieved once before by a side representing Greece. Fiorentina of neighbouring Italy, in their second consecutive Conference final, were the side that stood in the way of immortality for the Piraeus giants. El Kaabi, again, proved the hero on that night in Athens. In a coincidental twist of fate, the 2024 Conference League final was hosted in Athens’ OPAP Arena, home of fierce rivals AEK. Many were saying it was written in the stars that we would emerge victorious on Greek soil – this, indeed, was the ultimate outcome. The day was long for the fans, having to travel on the arranged Metro services from Piraeus and central Athens, but the game itself seemed to drag on for an eternity, such was the tension. After an almost never-ending first half, where the Italians had been the better of the two sides but unable to convert their chance, the Reds emerged much stronger in the second half. Neither side could find the net and extra time was inevitable. Extra time offered much the same, as the period of additional time was drawing to a close the talk amongst the fans that surrounded me in the stands that night was of penalties. As fans we were resigned to the fact that neither side was going to find the net and we were to endure another nerve-wracking penalty shootout. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Then, with four minutes left on the clock, the single most magical moment in the long and successful history of the club was to unfold. Vicente Iborra hustling in the centre of the park using his superior height found Santiago Hezze out on the left with his head. Hezze gathered the ball, composed himself and guided the ball into the box – the on-running El Kaabi beat his defender and got his head on the ball 6 yards out and beat the keeper. Delirium in the stands. Delirium in the bars and coffee shops around Greece. Delirium across the globe. As had become customary for El Kaabi during this campaign, the celebrations were muted momentarily as VAR was checked – but, again, as had also become customary: goal given! King El Kaabi had done it with his 33rd goal of the season. Jose Luis Mendilibar for the second season in a row and Olympiacos for the first time in history were lifting a major European trophy. The eyes of the world were watching and Olympiacos were victorious.

As Olympiacos fans, for years we have sung about our “crazy dream” of winning a European title and in 2024 that crazy dream became a lived reality. No need to dream any longer. We had seen our famous club taste success on the continental stage, the name of the club written in history. The success of the youth side of equal importance – for not only were Olympiacos the first club to bring Greece a European title but Olympiacos was the first club in history, across the continent, to hold two European titles in one season. Olympiacos wrote its name in UEFA European history, and that alone is reason for you to follow the Red & White this season!