Defeat in Piraeus
Olympiacos F.C. 4-0 (1-0) FC Krasnodar
Goals: Guerrero, 30, Ranđelović, 78, Ranđelović, 85, Podence, 89.
Olympiacos F.C. (Piraeus, Greece): José Sá, Tsimikas, Rúben Semedo, Meriah, Elabdellaoui, Bouchalakis, Guilherme dos Santos, Masouras (Ranđelović, 75), Valbuena (Camara, 87), Podence (Torosidis, 90+2), Guerrero.
FC Krasnodar (Krasnodar, Russia): Safonov, Ramírez, Fjóluson, Spajić, Petrov, Kambolov, Vilhena, Wanderson, Cabella (Olsson, 25), Namli (Suleymanov, 58), Berg (Ignatyev, 69).
Yellow cards: Torosidis, 78, Ranđelović, 86.
Referees: Carlos del Cerro Grande, Juan Carlos Yuste, Roberto Alonso (all Spain).
21 August 2019. Greece. Piraeus. Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Clear. 29 degrees. 29132 spectators.
It was only the first part of the first half that went okay for the Bulls in the first leg game of the UEFA Champions League play-offs. On the 10th minute the ball hit Guilherme’s arm in the box of the Red-Whites after a shot by Wanderson Maciel, but neither did Carlos del Cerro the ref order a penalty kick, nor did the video assistant referees change his mind. Soon after that Wanderson fired another good shot from medium distance, but José Sá got a good grip on the ball on his second attempt.
The breaking point took place on the 23rd minute. Rémy Cabella stumbled in a fight for the ball and sustained an injury. Loss of Cabella made the performance of the Bulls somewhat unbalanced. On the 30th minute Guerrero sent the ball into the second corner of the Krasnodar net making it bounce off the goalpost with a pool-like shot, but things could have gone even worse for the Bulls before the first half ended. Podence missed just barely with his shot from the 18-yard line, and Ramírez saved the black-greens when he blocked the ball with his body after a shot by Valbuena.
Olympiacos managed to increase their lead in the second half. Ranđelović scored two goals in a row, first one after making good use of a counterattack and a rebound, and then catching Safonov off guard with a shot from twenty meters that had been preceded with a feint. Finally, on the 89th minute Podence met a fine pass from Bouchalakis inside the box and scored one more goal. As a result, the Thrylos won 4-0.
The Bulls will play the second leg of the UCL play-offs at the Krasnodar Stadium on 27 August. The kick-off time is 10:00 PM.
