Olympiakos avoids defeat in Azerbaijan
Olympiakos has finally got off the mark at its Europa League group stage, snatching a goalless draw at Qarabag on Thursday, though its chances of advancing even to the Conference League remain slim at this stage.
The Reds are now mathematically eliminated from the Europa League as they cannot make the top two spots in their group.
Unlike the rest of its matches in Europe, Olympiakos managed to emerge from this game, in Baku, with a clean sheet, playing an in-form team that a week earlier had scored three times in Piraeus.
Giving a Europa League debut to keeper Alexandros Paschalakis and defender Andreas Ndoj, Olympiakos coach Michel wished to change the mood and mentality of his back line, and appears to have managed that on Thursday.
Qarabag had some chances, especially in the first and last 30 minutes of the game, but the Reds emerged unscathed and even threatened their hosts on some occasions, most notably on the 36th minute when Aboubakar Kamara hit the goal frame.
The Piraeus team remained rooted at the bottom of the table, but still has a chance for the third spot that leads to the Conference League. To get there it will need to top Nantes, that it will host in its last group game, after negotiating a tough visit to Freiburg in two weeks’ time.
