Keep the Heid for an Olympic Effort

It’s match day four in the Europa League, and match day three in the Conference League. Both of which mean after tonight we’re at the half way stage, since UEFA decided the Conference League should have a different setup from the other two tournaments even though it has the same number of teams.

We start off in Greece where Olympiakos host Rangers. The 5.45pm oor time kick off is live on TNT Sports 3. Olympiakos were a pot two team when the draw was made. Although from their perspective, this is their hardest home game as Rangers were pot one.

Rangers are currently 11th in the table after three games, behind Lyon on goal difference and ahead of Olympiakos on goal difference. Lyon of course beat Rangers 4-1 at Ibrox on match day two…

But that came after Rangers had won 2-0 away to Malmo on match day one…

And most recently they beat FCSB 4-0 at Ibrox on match day three.

Olympiakos also started out with a defeat to Lyon. This one being 2-0 in France.

But they bounced back to win 3-0 at home against Braga…

Before they too picked up a win away to Malmo, albeit only 1-0. Can’t find a video of this one though, too many people playing PES on YouTube.

Rangers win away to Malmo bodes well here, because that was going against the record books. Prior to that, they’d never won in Sweden and they’ll need to do something new this time too if they’re to win in Greece.

The four previous occasions that Rangers have faced Greek opposition have seen one defeat and three draws in Greece. Sometimes that’s worked better than others.

The first was in the 1994/95 Champions League qualifying round, where AEK Athens won both legs of the tie. 1-0 at Ibrox and 2-0 in Athens.

The visit to Greece to face PAOK in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup second qualifying round saw a goalless draw, but the 2-0 win at Ibrox was enough to see Rangers through. I can only find highlights of the Ibrox game so that will have to do. Andrei Kanchelskis and Rod Wallace with the goals.

Panathinaikos have been the opponent on the other two occasions. The first meeting came in the 2003/04 Champions League group stage. Rangers got a 1-1 draw in Greece, Emerson with the Rangers goal and Pantelis Konstantinidis with the late equaliser. Wasn’t enough to prevent them finishing bottom of the group though, which was sealed when Rangers lost 3-1 at Ibrox to Panathinaikos. Rangers had led through Michael Mols, but were quickly pegged back by a goal from Raimondas Zutautas. Angelos Basinas gave the visitors the lead after an hour and Michalis Konstantinou sealed with a couple of minutes remaining.

The two teams also met in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup third round. Although it was a goalless draw at Ibrox, the 1-1 draw in Greece was enough to see Rangers go through on away goals and ultimately reach the final in Manchester that season. Nacho Novo with the all important late equaliser and away goal after Giannis Goumas had given the hosts the lead.

Olympiakos have a mixed record against Scottish opposition. They’ve played both Dunfermline Athletic and Celtic in the past, and guess which one of those two progressed?

Yep, Dunfermline.

The teams met in the 1968/69 Cup Winners Cup second round. Dunfermline were 3-0 down from the first leg in Greece, but goals from Barrie Mitchell, two from Alex Edwards and the tie winner from Jim Fraser, were enough to give a remarkable turnaround.

Dunfermline then went on to knockout West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on aggregate in the quarter final, only to be narrowly beaten by eventual winners Slovan Bratislava 2-1 on aggregate in the semi final.

So as you might have surmised, the other time saw Celtic defeated in the 1974/75 European Cup first round. The game at Celtic park was a 1-1 draw, but Olympiakos won 2-0 in Greece to knock Celtic out at the first round for only the second time in their nine appearances in the competition – the other being when Dynamo Kyiv shocked the reigning champions in 1967/68.

So, if Rangers are to win tonight they’ll need to win in Greece for the first time and thus Olympiakos will have to lose at home to a Scottish side for the first time.

Olympiakos are fourth in the Greek Super League, three points behind leaders Aris Thessaloniki after ten games. On Saturday they beat Panserraikos 2-1 at home, but I can’t find footage of it. They go to PAOK this coming Sunday.

Rangers are third in the Premiership, nine points behind leaders Celtic and second placed Aberdeen after ten games. On Sunday they beat Motherwell 2-1 in the League Cup semi final. They host Hearts this coming Sunday.

And speaking of Hearts…

Once the action in Greece is done, TNT Sports 3 will continue with the 8pm kick off at Tynecastle as Hearts play host to Heidenheim in the Conference League. Hearts have two wins from two so far. Those coming 2-1 away to Dinamo Minsk on match day one…

They then beat Omonia Nicosia 2-0 at Tynecastle on match day two.

That has Hearts sitting sixth in the table behind Vitoria Guimaraes on goal difference. They are one of nine teams with a 100% record, but the team currently sitting in ninth is Heidenhelm.

Heidenheim started out with a 2-1 win at home to Olimpija Ljubljana in a game I can’t find footage of, before winning 1-0 away to Pafos.

Heidenheim also had to come through the playoff round to reach this point, seeing off BK Hacken thanks to a 2-1 win in Sweden…

And a 3-2 win in Germany.

Heidenheim have never played a Scottish side before. Indeed, before this season they’d never played anyone before as this is their debut season in Europe. Four wins out of four isn’t a bad start!

Despite not having played in Europe at all before this season, Heidenheim were in pot two when the draw was made. That’s the boost you get when you play in one of the bigger leagues! So this is Hearts most difficult home game, as they’ll be away to their pot one team which is Copenhagen. But we’ll save that for December.

Hearts have faced Germany opposition before and actually they’ve done reasonably well against them, especially at home. In the 1976/77 Cup Winners’ Cup they faced both Lokomotive Leipzig of East Germany in the first round and Hamburg of West Germany in the second round. The 5-1 win over the former at Tynecastle saw them through despite losing 2-0 away…

but Hamburg won 4-1 at Tynecastle and 4-2 in Germany to see off any chance of a third round tie against non-German opposition. I can only find the away game so that will have to do.

Bayern Munich faced Hearts in the UEFA Cup quarter final in 1988/89, but despite a 1-0 win a Tynecastle courtesy of Iain Ferguson, the 2-0 defeat in Germany meant it was Bayern that progressed.

Hearts next met German opposition in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup first round. Bringing a narrow 1-0 defeat back from Germany, Hearts levelled the tie through Gary Naysmith in the first half. But Ahmed Salah Hosny got a vital away goal before half time, which was then added to in the second half by Marcelo Bordon. Hearts fought back admirably, Gordon Petric levelling on the night a few minutes later and then Colin Cameron brought the tie back to 3-3 with seven minutes remaining. But that one last goal never came, and Stuttgart progressed on away goals.

The 2004/05 UEFA Cup saw Shalke 04 visit Murrayfield and leave with a 1-0 win. That was that group stage where there were five teams and everyone played once, so there was no corresponding trip to Germany. And that was also the last time Hearts faced a German team, so it’s funny how once again there will be no corresponding away game!

Heidenheim are currently twelfth in the Bundesliga after nine games, 13 points behind leaders Bayern Munich and just two points outside the relegation playoff spot. On Saturday they lost 1-0 away to Holstein Kiel. On Sunday they’ll host Wolfsburg.

Hearts are currently eleventh in the Premiership after twelve games, one point ahead of Hibernian at the foot of the table. On Saturday they won 2-1 away to St Johnstone. As mentioned earlier, they go to Rangers this coming Sunday.

Good luck to both Rangers and Hearts tonight!