Olympiacos CFP V Valencia CF MATCH PRESS KIT Georgios Karaiskakis, Athens Tuesday, 12 September 2006 - 20:45CET Group D - Matchday 1
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Olympiacos CFP v Valencia CF MATCH PRESS KIT Georgios Karaiskakis, Athens Tuesday, 12 September 2006 - 20:45CET Group D - Matchday 1 After nine Greek titles in ten seasons, Olympiacos CFP are now entering their tenth successive year of UEFA Champions League football. However, while getting into the group stage has proved no problem, getting out of it is another matter altogether. Olympiacos have progressed beyond the first stage only once during the last decade – in the 1998/99 season when they went all the way to the quarter-finals. • Trond Sollied's men open their Group D campaign against the top seeds Valencia CF but at least they have the benefit of home advantage – they have never won in ten visits to Spain. Even at the Georgios Karaiskaki stadium, however, Olympiacos know they face a tough start against Spain's third-placed team in 2005/06. Attacking strength • Valencia coach Quique Sánchez Flores signed a trio of Spanish internationals over the summer in Asier del Horno, Fernando Morientes and Joaquín Sánchez. The €8m Italian striker Francesco Tavano was another arrival, but it is Morientes who has made the headlines with an impressive start. • The former Real Madrid CF and Liverpool FC front man struck the first goal as Valencia overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit with a 3-0 home win over FC Salzburg in the third qualifying round. David Villa and Silva were the other scorers. • Olympiacos strengthened considerably in defence during the summer, their recruitments including Michal Zewłakow, Abdeslam Ouaddou, Didier Domi and Julio César. Another new face is Ecuadorian forward Félix Borja. Previous encounters • It finished honours even when the sides met in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League group stage. Valencia won 2-1 at the Mestalla in September 2000 with Rubén Baraja among the scorers, and Olympiacos gained revenge with a 1-0 home victory thanks to Predrag Djordjević's penalty. • That season Valencia ended up topping the group en route to a second successive final, but Olympiacos missed out on second place due to an inferior head-to-head record with Olympique Lyonnais. • Overall, Olympiacos have won five of ten home matches against Spanish opposition, including a 2-1 triumph against Real Madrid CF last season. Valencia, meanwhile, have never tasted victory in three previous visits to Greece. Striking records • Valencia fans have unhappy memories of Olympiacos' Rivaldo, who struck a spectacular overhead-kick winner against them for Barcelona on the final day of the 2000/01 Spanish season. The goal took Barcelona into the following season's UEFA Champions League at Valencia's expense. • Valencia's Morientes has found the net against Olympiacos twice before. He was on target when Real Madrid beat the Greek team 5-1 in the group stage in October 1997 and repeated the trick when the sides met again at the Santiago Bernabéu at the same stage two years later. Last Updated 11.9.2006 12:54:33CET uefa.com 1 Olympiacos CFP v Valencia CF MATCH PRESS KIT Team facts Olympiacos UEFA club competition milestones • Greece have yet to see any of their clubs win a major European prize with Olympiacos still to reach the last four of either the European Champion Clubs' Cup or UEFA Cup. • Their best European Cup showing came under the auspices of the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League. The club progressed to the last eight where they met Juventus of Italy. After scoring an away goal in a 2-1 defeat in Turin, a one-goal victory would have been enough at home for Olympiacos to progress. They duly took the lead early in the return only to concede in the 85th minute and Juve went through 3-2 on aggregate. • The best individual campaign in any competition came when they reached the quarter-finals of the 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, before losing 4-2 on aggregate to Club Atlético de Madrid. UEFA club competition honours • No participations recorded in a UEFA club competition final. Ten-year record (including current season) • Olympiacos have qualified for the UEFA Champions League for ten seasons in a row with this year's participation. They have only once made it to the knockout stages, in 1998/99. 1997/98: UEFA Champions League - group stage 1998/99: UEFA Champions League - quarter-finals 1999/00: UEFA Champions League - first group stage 2000/01: UEFA Champions League - first group stage 2001/02: UEFA Champions League - first group stage 2002/03: UEFA Champions League - first group stage 2003/04: UEFA Champions League - group stage 2004/05: UEFA Cup - round of 16 (having transferred from the UEFA Champions League, group stage) 2005/06: UEFA Champions League - group stage 2006/07: UEFA Champions League - group stage 2005/06 season Domestic record: Olympiacos won the Alpha Ethniki title for the second straight season and the ninth time in the last ten campaigns. They finished three points ahead of AEK Athens FC and Panathinaikos FC to earn the only automatic group-stage berth on offer to Greek clubs. European record: Olympiacos again failed to progress to the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. They lost the first four matches in their group against Rosenborg BK, Real Madrid CF and twice to Olympique Lyonnais. A 1-1 draw at Rosenborg and 2-1 win at home against Madrid were not enough to lift the side off the bottom of the section. Key facts • Olympiacos have played 56 times in the UEFA Champions League, winning 16, drawing 12 and losing 28. They have scored 66 goals and conceded 100. • The club have played 165 times overall in UEFA club competition, with 60 wins, 31 draws and 74 defeats. They have scored 204 times and conceded 263 goals. In the European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League, the Greek side have played 88 matches, with 26 wins, 19 draws and 43 defeats. In that time, they have scored 104 goals and conceded 148. Records Last Updated 11.9.2006 12:54:33CET uefa.com 2 Olympiacos CFP v Valencia CF MATCH PRESS KIT UEFA club competition • Biggest win 5-0: Olympiacos CFP v MPKC Mozyr 13.08.1997, 1997/98 European Champion Clubs' Cup, second qualifying round, first leg • Biggest home win 5-0: Olympiacos CFP v MPKC Mozyr (see above for details) • Biggest away win 0-3: FC Chornomorets Odesa v Olympiacos CFP 30.09.1992, 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, first round, second leg 0-3: US Luxembourg v Olympiacos CFP 01.10.1986, 1986/87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, first round, second leg • Heaviest defeat 7-0: Juventus v Olympiacos CFP 10.12.2003, 2003/04 UEFA Champions League, group stage • Heaviest home defeat 0-4: Olympiacos CFP v Hamburger SV 03.11.1982, 1982/83 European Champion Clubs' Cup, second round, second leg • Heaviest away defeat 7-0: Juventus v Olympiacos CFP (see above for details) UEFA Champions League (group stage to final only) • Biggest win 6-2: Olympiacos CFP v Bayer 04 Leverkusen 18.09.2002, 2002/03 UEFA Champions League, first group stage • Biggest home win 6-2: Olympiacos CFP v Bayer 04 Leverkusen (see above for details) • Biggest away win No away victories recorded in the competition • Heaviest defeat 7-0: Juventus v Olympiacos CFP (see above for details) • Heaviest home defeat 1-4: Olympiacos CFP v Olympique Lyonnais 01.11.2005, 2005/06 UEFA Champions League, group stage • Heaviest away defeat 7-0: Juventus v Olympiacos CFP (see above for details) Last updated: 27 August 2006 Valencia Last Updated 11.9.2006 12:54:33CET uefa.com 3 Olympiacos CFP v Valencia CF MATCH PRESS KIT UEFA club competition milestones • Valencia have a fine tradition in European competition and have twice gone close to winning the UEFA Champions League. In successive seasons - 1999/2000 and 2000/01 - they were beaten finalists against Real Madrid CF and FC Bayern München respectively. Despite losing 3-0 against their Spanish rivals they were only denied by penalty kicks a year later against Bayern after the match in Milan had ended 1-1 after 120 minutes. • The club's greatest success on the European stage however has come in the other UEFA club competitions. In 1979/80 they were on the right side of a penalty shootout, defeating Arsenal FC 5-4 to win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup after the teams had played out a goalless draw. • Valencia's most recent triumph arrived in the UEFA Cup in 2003/04 where a Vicente Rodríguez penalty and a goal from Mista helped them lift the trophy against Olympique de Marseille in Gothenburg. UEFA club competition honours • UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1979/80 • UEFA Cup: 2003/04 • UEFA Super Cup: 1980, 2004 • UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998 Ten-year record (including current season) • Valencia have enjoyed a successful record in recent seasons and return to the UEFA Champions League for the fifth time in seven years after a 3-1 aggregate third qualifying round victory against FC Salzburg. 1997/98: Did not compete in UEFA club competition 1998/99: UEFA Cup - second round 1999/00: UEFA Champions League - runners-up 2000/01: UEFA Champions League - runners-up 2001/02: UEFA Cup - quarter-finals 2002/03: UEFA Champions League - quarter-finals 2003/04: UEFA Cup - winners 2004/05: UEFA Cup - round of 32 (having transferred from the UEFA Champions League, group stage) 2005/06: UEFA Intertoto Cup - finalists 2006/07: UEFA Champions League - group stage 2005/06 season Domestic record: Valencia missed out on an automatic place in the group stage of this season's UEFA Champions League after a final day defeat against CA Osasuna meant that they finished third in the Primera División standings, a point behind Real Madrid.