A tough test awaits Olympiacos in Marseille. The Piraeus-based team faces Marseille on the road (10:00 p.m.) in the second matchday of the Europa League group stage.

The “Red-and-Whites” will be put to the test at the “Velodrome,” without their fans by their side, even though they had initially secured 3,500 tickets, as French authorities issued a… a red flag regarding the presence of fans of the Greek team.

In any case, Olympiacos must focus on the task at hand to continue with a positive result in the competition, having kicked off with a 2-1 victory over Jagiellonia in Faliro for the Europa League. Alguacil’s team wants to build on the momentum gained from the victory over Panathinaikos—thanks to Retsos’s goal—by showing the same passion as in the recent “eternal” derby.

The Piraeus side doesn’t want to get carried away, but they will certainly need to take advantage of Marseille’s current form. Genesio’s team may have won 2-0 at Troyes on Sunday (10/11), but prior to that, they had suffered five consecutive losses across all competitions. Among those losses was a crushing 4-1 defeat at Besiktas in their Europa League opener.

Bailey was left out of the “Red-and-Whites’” squad as he is suffering from a muscle injury. Marius is not on the roster, nor are Sipioni, Roca, and Popovic.

“Marseille plays attacking soccer, and especially when they’re at home, they want to be even more dominant in their game. They want to capitalize on the energy of the crowd by playing attacking soccer. But Olympiacos is the same; we can’t completely change our identity or our style of play,” noted Imanol Alguacil, while emphasizing the role that passion and strength will play.

Olympiacos’ roster: Ortega, Stournaras, Georgakopoulos, Saliakas, Smailović, Pirolá, Carmo, Pedersen, Retsos, Bruno, Tiknizian, Fortounis, Sa, Zelsson, Puerta, Froiler, Chikino, Ese, Filis, Yaremchuk, Zota, and Gonzalez.

“This is a top club in the Greek league, accustomed to regularly competing in the Champions League. It’s a team that changed coaches three games ago and has remained undefeated ever since. They’re a team that plays aggressively and with great intensity,” Bruno Genesio noted at the press conference.

Defender Cornelius and midfielder Hojbjerg are out for Marseille, but winger Weah is available, having recovered from the injury that had been bothering him.

Probable lineups

Marseille (Bruno Genesio): De Lange – Weah, Riley, Aguer – Kondogbia, Nadi – Ari, Gomes, Paíso – Guiri
Olympiacos (Imanol Alguacil): Ortega – Pedersen, Retsos, Pirolá, Tiknizian – Ese (Froyler), Puerta – Fortounis, Zota, Zelsson – Yaremchuk

Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
Assistant Referees: Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring (England)
Fourth Official: Andrew Madley (England)
VAR: Andrew Dallas (Scotland), AVAR: Dennis Higler (Netherlands)

*photo source: AP