Marked for Pablo Maffeo
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 Dec 2027
A 2‑1 win over Volos NPS, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match18 Dec 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against AEL Larisa, and it could have been more.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Defensive actions: 34, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match18 Dec 2027
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A season average of 7.21 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Dec 2027
Bragging rights belong to Olympiacos for another year after a 4‑2 win over PAOK in front of a full house.
Market6 Dec 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Olympiacos may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market6 Dec 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Olympiacos heard it as anything else.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
There are goals, and then there are goals against that particular opponent. The Olympiacos support have their bragging rights for a year and they know exactly whose name is on them.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Pablo Maffeo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match4 Dec 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Olympiacos did not have in the autumn.
Squad6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Thomas Partey
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Match20 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Olympiacos
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match20 Nov 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Chiquinho knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Olympiacos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Nov 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Somebody wants to buy Olympiacos
Nothing has been signed and nothing has been denied. Supporters who have lived through one of these before know the quiet part lasts months and the loud part lasts a week.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lorenzo Pirola commits to Olympiacos for another 5 years.
Match5 Nov 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Pablo Maffeo gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Marked 8.35 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match22 Oct 2027
Olympique de Marseille left with the points after a 4‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match23 Oct 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Yusuf Yazıcı’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Olympiacos.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 8.85 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
A performance of 8.50 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Olympiacos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match16 Oct 2027
The derby belongs to Olympiacos
5‑2 against Panathinaikos, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
Squad18 Oct 2027
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match18 Oct 2027
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Beat anybody else and it is three points. Beat them and it is a story a city tells for a decade. Olympiacos have their man.
Market18 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Match16 Oct 2027
Nobody wants to play Olympiacos right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Pablo Maffeo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Bruno Onyemaechi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match25 Sep 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 17 matches without defeat is a foundation Olympiacos did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.74 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.57 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad27 Sep 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Kostantis Tzolakis knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Match25 Sep 2027
It needed Mehdi Taremi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Volos NPS, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Olympiacos needed to.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Olympiacos do not lose
13 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market6 Sep 2027
Atromitos come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Olympiacos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ayoub El Kaabi and Olympiacos agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.43 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Olympiacos know it.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Aug 2027
Olympiacos refuse to drop out of the race
Position 1, 60 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market23 Aug 2027
AEK pay $4.8M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market23 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Pablo Maffeo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Niclas Eliasson, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Aug 2027
Add another name to the list: Kifisia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bruno Onyemaechi. The answer from Olympiacos has not changed — yet.
Squad9 Aug 2027
David Carmo gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market9 Aug 2027
Rudar Velenje are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Olympiacos will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market9 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Pablo Maffeo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A season on the outside for David Carmo
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Olympiacos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad12 Jul 2027
André Luiz gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Abdul Mumin knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Olympiacos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market12 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Pablo Maffeo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Jun 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Olympiacos heard it as anything else.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
The goals keep arriving from Roman Yaremchuk’s exile
15 goals in 22 games at Olympique Lyonnais — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Olympiacos release $3.4M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Market7 Jun 2027
Rodinei is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Olympiacos has been clear about where Rodinei stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market7 Jun 2027
The Pablo Maffeo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pablo Maffeo signs something — a contract at Olympiacos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Pablo Maffeo has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Pablo Maffeo keeps the shirt for now, at Olympiacos's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom24 May 2027
They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.
Market24 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 May 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Olympiacos will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad24 May 2027
Pablo Maffeo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
134 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 May 2027
No hiding place for Chiquinho
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chiquinho, and the manager let it.
Loan watch24 May 2027
25 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Loan watch24 May 2027
19 appearances away from home and 5 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market24 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lorenzo Pirola signs something — a contract at Olympiacos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch10 May 2027
22 appearances at Olympique Lyonnais and the goals keep coming. Olympiacos are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market10 May 2027
The Pablo Maffeo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pablo Maffeo signs something — a contract at Olympiacos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad10 May 2027
Gelson Martins has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad10 May 2027
Thomas Partey looks at the other side of the line
“I have started watching training differently.” At 33 he has begun the badges, which is how most of the men in the dugout began.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
Pablo Maffeo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Panetolikos to sit and watch. I want to come back to Olympiacos and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Gelson Martins knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gelson Martins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
25 appearances at Al-Khaleej and the goals keep coming. Olympiacos are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
5 goals in 19 games at Wisla Krakow — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lorenzo Pirola signs something — a contract at Olympiacos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
The goals keep arriving from Roman Yaremchuk’s exile
15 goals in 22 games at Olympique Lyonnais — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Olympiacos updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Lovro Majkić
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of Pablo Maffeo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Olympiacos say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The manager plants his flag on Chiquinho
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Chiquinho’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Apr 2027
60 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market5 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market5 Apr 2027
Lorenzo Pirola wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Olympiacos release $3.4M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Olympiacos will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Market5 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Santiago Hezze signs something — a contract at Olympiacos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Yusuf Yazıcı: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Pablo Maffeo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market29 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Chiquinho’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Olympiacos had a different afternoon.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
29 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch15 Mar 2027
21 appearances away from home and 15 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match13 Feb 2027
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Olympiacos have 6 straight wins of it.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
9 goals and a season average of 7.42. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match13 Feb 2027
Three points for Olympiacos, 2‑1 the final word against Kifisia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.74, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad15 Feb 2027
No hiding place for Chiquinho
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chiquinho, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match8 Feb 2027
Olympiacos are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 54 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Feb 2027
Nobody wants to play Olympiacos right now
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A defender's afternoon for Thomas Partey
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ayoub El Kaabi and Olympiacos agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Pablo Maffeo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match30 Jan 2027
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market1 Feb 2027
Pablo Maffeo wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Jan 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Lorenzo Pirola’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Olympiacos.
Squad1 Feb 2027
8 goals and a season average of 7.42. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.74 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 37. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Lovro Majkić: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market25 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Jan 2027
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Pablo Maffeo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Steven Zuber, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match23 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Abdul Mumin. 1‑0 against AEK, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Dec 2026
PAOK take the derby
1‑2, and no way to dress it up. A derby defeat follows a supporter to work on Monday, and this one will follow him all week.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Pablo Maffeo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.80 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
$3.4M on the table at Olympiacos
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to André Luiz, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Shots: 13, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 40 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market2 Nov 2026
André Luiz hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
André Luiz: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Olympiacos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market2 Nov 2026
Pablo Maffeo wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Pablo Maffeo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
201% of the income goes out in wages at Olympiacos
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Oct 2026
Olympiacos are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 19 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Thomas Partey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.90 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match3 Oct 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Asteras, and it could have been more.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Pablo Maffeo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.97, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 299% of everything Olympiacos earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.91 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A masterclass from Chiquinho
Marked 8.50 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.46 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdul Mumin, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Olympiacos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Olympiacos can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Chiquinho runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Pablo Maffeo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑2 to Volos NPS, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Shots: 14, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Shots: 5, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market31 Aug 2026
Levadiakos come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Olympiacos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Pablo Maffeo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Olympiacos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 3‑1 win over Panetolikos, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Market31 Aug 2026
Levadiakos are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Olympiacos will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Malmo FF come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Olympiacos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Olympiacos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Aug 2026
Pablo Maffeo wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Olympiacos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Pablo Maffeo commits to Olympiacos for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ayoub El Kaabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.