Draw at Freiburg puts Olympiakos out of Europe
Olympiakos crashed out of Europe as it conceded a late equalizer to draw 1-1 at Freiburg for the Europa League and cannot even make the next round of the Conference League, being condemned to the last place in its pool.
The result does not do justice to the clever performance of the Greek champion for most of the game, however the tired legs of its players betrayed them once again in injury time.
The Reds chose to hit in the counter in the first half: In at least three occasions the Greek team threatened Freiburg, and got to score in one of them as Youssef El-Arabi made the most of a poor clearance by the keeper to open the score for Olympiakos after 17 minutes.
Six minutes on, Giorgos Masouras missed a glorious chance to double the Piraeus team’s lead.
For pretty much the rest of the game Olympiakos absorbed the pressure of the Germans, who appeared frustrated at times and unable to beat the Greek keeper, Alexandros Paschalakis.
However a corner from the right on the 93rd minute gave the chance to Martin Kubler to equalize with a swerving header. This was another late goal Olympiakos has conceded in Europe this season.
To add insult to injury, Ousseynou Ba got his second yellow card in the time added-on to leave Olympiakos with 10 men in the end.
Nantes’ victory over Qarabag in France at the same time means Olympiakos cannot avoid finishing last in its group even if it beats Nantes in Piraeus in the last game of its European season. It has only got two points from five games.
