Expert page

The first leg between Olympiacos and NEC Nijmegen will be played at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus. The hosts enters in this game as a fovourites. Olympiacos enter as slight favorites mainly because of Jose Luis Mendilibar's pragmatic, high-intensity tactics. Also the Greeks have greater experience in two-legged European knockout ties. The home team will press aggressively during the opening 20-25 minutes with attacks down the wings and deliver plenty of crosses. The team will try to build a first-leg advantage before traveling to the Netherlands. NEC are technically gifted and comfortable in possession but are less experienced in Champions League qualifying. The team patient build-up will try to exploit space behind Olympiacos' advancing full-backs. Olympiacos' home advantage and European know-how should give them the edge, but NEC have enough quality to stay in the tie.