Barcelona – Olympiakos 6–1: Collapse after an unjust red card…
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Olympiakos suffered a heavy 6–1 defeat to Barcelona at Barcelona’s “Montjuïc” in Matchday 3 of the Champions League. Fermin López scored a hat-trick for the hosts (7’, 39’, 76’), Marcus Rashford added two (74’, 79’), and Lamine Yamal netted one from the spot (68’). Olympiakos protest the unjust sending-off of Santiago Esse in the 57th minute, which came shortly after El Kaabi’s penalty goal (54’). From that point came the collapse that cost four goals in an 11-minute span (68’–79’). Exactly 20 seconds after the opening whistle, Podence found a shooting lane and fired toward Szczesny’s corner, with the keeper producing a very difficult save.
Barcelona replied with a big missed chance by Rashford in the 5th minute and opened the scoring two minutes later. Yamal danced past everyone in his path in the box and the ball reached Fermin López, who sent it into the net. Two of the seven La Masia products used by Hansi Flick in his starting XI combined on the goal, along with Kubarsí, Eric Garcia, Balde, Casadó, and 17-year-old Dro Fernández, who made his competition debut. Meanwhile, another nine players from Barça’s famous academy were on the bench!
Olympiakos had their moments in the first half, without creating a gilt-edged chance. They pressed the hosts at times and mainly tried to play rather than sit back and “steal” a result. But Barça’s quality is incomparable. In the 39th minute, Dro Fernández supplied the assist to Fermin, who eluded Pirola and with his second of the night made it 2–0.
At the start of the second half, Olympiakos got back into it with El Kaabi’s penalty in the 54th minute! It was a… complicated sequence: the Moroccan headed the ball into the net, but VAR checked the phase due to Podence being offside; however, Eric Garcia had handled the ball, leading to a penalty for the Reds. Just as things seemed to be turning in Olympiakos’ favour, a referee’s misjudgment ruined everything. Swiss official Schneider “discovered” a blow by Esse on Casadó, showing the Argentine a second yellow. A big mistake that essentially deprived Olympiakos of any hope.
This development was the worst possible for the Greek side and soon after the Blaugrana sealed the win. Rashford beat Tzolakis to the ball and—seeking contact—went to ground. A VAR-awarded penalty was converted by Lamine Yamal for 3–1 in the 68th minute. In the 74th, Rashford found space in the area and finished clinically for the hosts’ fourth. Olympiakos’ morale plummeted and in the 76th Fermin López completed his hat-trick from a Bardghji assist, with the latter’s first touch of the ball. In the 79th, Marcus Rashford, with a shot from the edge of the box, made it 6–1.
Referee: Urs Schneider (Switzerland)
Yellow cards: Balde — Esse, Dani Garcia, Podence
Red card: Esse (57’ – second yellow)
Line-ups:
BARCELONA (Hansi Flick): Szczesny, Balde (75’ Martin), Eric Garcia, Kubarsí, Kounde (75’ Araújo), Casadó, Pedri (80’ — ), Dro Fernández (58’ De Jong), Yamal (75’ Bardghji), Fermin, Rashford
OLYMPIAKOS (José Luis Mendilibar): Tzolakis, Ortega (53’ Bruno), Pirola, Retsos, Costinha, Dani Garcia, Esse, Chiquinho (31’ inj. Nascimento), Podence (77’ Taremi), Martins (46’ Mouzakitis), El Kaabi (77’ Yaremchuk)
Pafos “stand tall” with 10 men in Almaty
Pafos earned their second point in the Champions League League Phase—again away from home and again with a clean sheet (0–0)—tonight against Kairat Almaty, after the goalless draw with Olympiakos at Georgios Karaiskakis in the competition’s opener.
The sending-off of Correia in just the 4th minute completely changed both coaches’ plans, especially those of Juan Carcedo. The Pafos manager saw his team reduced to 10 very early and forced to throw all their weight behind shoring up their defensive line.
The Cypriot side managed to keep a clean sheet and tried to find a chance to score on the counter—something they achieved in the 72nd minute through Anarbekov. However, the goal did not stand, as VAR review determined there was an offside in the build-up.
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