Pedro Martins was pleased with the performance of the Olympiacos players in the middle of the week in the match against Panetolikos ( 3-1 victory ), so he is expected to rely on most of them in the away match against Ionikos ( Sunday 6/2, 17 : 15, COSMOTE SPORT 2 HD and LIVE from SPORT24).
The Portuguese coach will probably open his cards in the afternoon in the last training session that will take place in Renti, as the day before yesterday (3/2) the players had a break and yesterday (4/2) the main players recovered. In fact, some do not rule out the red and white coach to line up the same team, if it is confirmed that Lala overcame the sprain in the right ankle .
On the other hand, there are those who believe that the Ivira coach should proceed with a slight rotation, in the sense that, after the game with Ionikos, the rematch of the Cup with Panetolikos in Karaiskakis follows for Olympiakos. The Piraeus team had lost 2-1 in the first match in Agrinio, but Martins in his statements immediately afterwards had left open the possibility of using several substitutes in the rematch, as well as players from the second team of Olympiacos.
For Portugal the championship is the first goal, Europe the second and the Cup comes third. Thus, he is oriented to line up the best possible lineup in the match against Ionikos and is not currently thinking about a rematch with Panetolikos in the Cup. He will deal with this from Monday (7/2) and will take into account other data for the training of the eleven.
Martins's thoughts on Ionian
Regarding the game with Ionikos, Mandi Kamara is claiming a place in the starting lineup, who served his penalty in the match with the team of Agrinio last Wednesday (2/2). It is not ruled out that Martins may want to breathe a sigh of relief at Bouhalakis, or that the two players should share their time at the Naples stadium.
Also, Masouras played as a change in the last half hour of the match with Panetolikos and he is also a candidate for the starting lineup. The same goes for Ticino. The choice of the Portuguese coach to use at the beginning of the game with the team of Agrinio El Arabi and Ticinio and to replace them by completing an hour with Ticinio and Masoura was not accidental. As for Lala, if Martins sees that he is not completely ready, or wants to protect him, then Androutsos will play.
Olympiacos is now entering a period of three difficult weeks with obligations in three competitions, with a total of seven games, which will determine a lot.
The red and whites will face - in turn - Ionikos in Naples (6/2), Panaitolikos in the rematch of the Cup (9/2), AEK in the championship in Karaiskakis (13/2), they will travel to Bergamo for the game with Atalanta (17/2), will go to Magnesia for the match with Volos in the championship (20/2) and then will welcome Atalanta (24/2) and OFI (27/2) in Neos Faliros.
Therefore, it is understood that Martins will need the proper management of human resources and, at the same time, the appropriate preparation competitively and mentally by the players to cope effectively with the heavy schedule. Because, the specific period will be judged, if Olympiakos will maintain its difference from its competitors in the championship standings and its qualification to the 16 of the Europa League and to the semifinals of the Greek Cup. We have, therefore, entered an extremely important month for Olympiacos.
