Olympiacos host AC Milan on Thursday night in the Europa League with qualification to the knockout round in the balance. It is a playoff match that the Europa League and Champions League rarely have on matchday 6. Therefore, it should be a great game to watch.
Spain’s Real Betis have qualified from Group F and only one of Olympiacos or Milan can join them. Olympiacos are three points behind Milan and must win by either a 2-0 or 3-1 scoreline to go through. Olympiacos can also win by a margin of three goals or more to seal progression alongside Real Betis.
While Olympiacos will come out all guns blazing in their attempt to score the goals needed, Milan will try to shut up shop. A draw will suffice for Gennaro Gattuso’s team. However, Olympiacos will have a stadium full of rabid supporters behind them. Milan can still top Group F, but they need Real Betis to lose and to win in Greece.
The teams met on Europa League matchday 2 with Milan getting the best of Olympiacos at the San Siro. It wasn’t easy for Gattuso and company as Milan allowed a 14th minute goal to Olympiacos’ Miguel Angel Guerrero. The Rossoneri scored three goals in the final 20 minutes (all coming between the 70th minute and the 79th minute) to get the win.
Milan defenders Alessio Romagnoli and Mateo Musacchio are reportedly set to play. The duo has been out with injury in recent weeks, but will be fit to take part on Thursday.
Olympiacos’ record against Italian teams at home is poor. They have lost five of their last eight matches against Italian teams when playing in Piraeus. Just once in that time did Olympiacos manage a win. Olympiacos manager Pedro Martins will deploy his side to attack from the start.
The team must score to have any hope of going through to the next round. Unfortunately, Olympiacos will leave gaps at the back that Milan can exploit. Milan have scored the most goals in Group F with 11. Olympiacos have allowed five goals and three of those came against Milan in their previous meeting.
Sportsbooks have the two sides quite even going into the fixture. Olympiacos needs to score and Milan can finish off the Greek side by scoring goals of their own. Milan won’t alter their play while Olympiacos will be far more attacking. Expect both teams to score. Both sides have seen goals fly into the net when playing in the tournament. However, matchday 6 should be quite cagey. Due to Olympiacos’ need to score goals, they will allow Milan to score as well. The fixture will end in a score draw with Milan qualifying for the next round.