{"id":7911,"date":"2026-01-21T10:10:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/?p=7911"},"modified":"2026-01-21T10:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:10:22","slug":"olympiacos-shocks-leverkusen-to-keep-ucl-dream-alive-in-piraeus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/olympiacos-shocks-leverkusen-to-keep-ucl-dream-alive-in-piraeus\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympiacos shocks Leverkusen to keep UCL Dream Alive in Piraeus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Olympiacos reignited their UEFA Champions League (UCL) ambitions with a famous 2-0 victory<\/strong> over Bayer Leverkusen at the intimidating Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. The result ended Die Werkself\u2019s 19-game unbeaten run<\/strong> against teams outside Europe\u2019s top five leagues and reopened the qualification race heading into the final matchday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast Start Sets the Tone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fresh from a narrow 1-0 win over Kairat Almaty that snapped a long UCL drought, Olympiacos came out flying. Inside two minutes, Costinha<\/strong> rose highest to head home a vicious outswinging corner from Rodinei<\/strong>, scoring his first goal in two years and sending the Piraeus crowd into raptures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leverkusen responded with pressure, fashioning chances from set pieces and open play, but found Konstantinos Tzolakis<\/strong> in inspired form. The Olympiacos goalkeeper denied Lo\u00efc Bad\u00e9<\/strong>, Lucas V\u00e1zquez<\/strong>, and later produced a stunning low save from Alejandro Grimaldo<\/strong> to preserve the early advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Olympiacos
Photo courtesy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ruthless Counter Before the Break<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Just before half-time, Olympiacos struck again. After Panagiotis Retsos<\/strong> cleared his lines, Rodinei surged forward and released Mehdi Taremi<\/strong>, who powered a clinical finish past Janis Blaswich<\/strong>. At 2-0, history beckoned\u2014this was Olympiacos closing in on a first win in 14 meetings with Bundesliga opposition<\/strong>, a run that previously included 12 defeats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defensive Steel Seals the Upset<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As expected, Leverkusen pushed for a comeback, but Olympiacos\u2019 discipline and work rate shut down momentum. Chiquinho<\/strong> went close with a free-kick, while Retsos was immense at the back, notably halting Grimaldo with a perfectly timed tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late chances fell to Patrik Schick<\/strong> and Malik Tillman<\/strong>, yet Tzolakis and substitute Giulian Biancone<\/strong> ensured there was no way through. The German side was left frustrated as the clock ticked down on a night dominated by Greek resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Olympiacos
Photo courtesy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What It Means for Qualification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The result leaves both sides vulnerable heading into the league-phase finale<\/strong>. Olympiacos sit 22nd, just one point behind Leverkusen, knowing that avoiding defeat away at Ajax<\/strong> could be enough to secure a top-24 finish\u2014an incredible turnaround after earlier struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Olympiacos
Photo courtesy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Final Word<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Olympiacos delivered one of the standout UCL performances of the season<\/strong>, combining early aggression, ruthless finishing, and heroic defending. With qualification still on the line, the Greek giants have given themselves a real chance\u2014and football fans across Tanzania can expect another dramatic final matchday in Europe\u2019s biggest club competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olympiacos reignited their UEFA Champions League (UCL) ambitions with a famous 2-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at the intimidating Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. The result ended Die Werkself\u2019s 19-game unbeaten run against teams outside Europe\u2019s top five leagues and reopened the qualification race heading into the final matchday. Fast Start Sets the Tone Fresh from a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[3015,254,3012,3016,681,3002,3011,1664,3013,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-7911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football-news","8":"tag-ajax-vs-olympiacos","9":"tag-bangbet-tanzania","10":"tag-bayer-leverkusen-defeat","11":"tag-bundesliga-teams","12":"tag-champions-league-highlights","13":"tag-olympiacos-vs-bayer-leverkusen","14":"tag-olympiacos-win","15":"tag-online-sports-betting-tanzania","16":"tag-ucl-qualification-race","17":"tag-uefa-champions-league"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7911"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7916,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7911\/revisions\/7916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bangbet.com\/tz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}