Olympiacos’ match against Volos at Panthessaliko Stadium was overshadowed by El Kaabi’s very serious injury, which will sideline him for a long time due to a tibia fracture. The Moroccan forward underwent surgery on Sunday and now faces a difficult road to recovery.
This development came as a shock to Olympiacos, initially on a personal level, but also in terms of the team’s performance. The Piraeus-based club is now forced, however, to turn the page and look ahead. The “Red-and-Whites” are once again scrutinizing their transfer list, re-entering the market to fill the void regarding domestic commitments, since no player acquired now can be registered for European competition.
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One of Yaremchuk, Clayton, Roca, Sipioni, Garcia, or Popovic will have to take his place. Ideally, the Ukrainian (who put in an outstanding performance in the second half of the 2024–25 season) would be registered, but he has long made it clear that his mind isn’t fully here. Besides, Mendilibar is leaving him out of the squad.
Otherwise, it creates a domino effect. Olympiacos has only González listed as a forward on its European roster, although it has been apparent for some time that Zota is also being considered as a forward. In this scenario, Roca could be added to the roster so as not to limit the options on the wings, but the young Spaniard will be sidelined for a few weeks, missing the match against Jagiellonia.
José Luis Medilibar is set to field a modified lineup for Olympiacos in Tuesday’s Greek Cup match against Volos Elabet. First of all, it’s very likely that Puerta will make his debut; he was on the roster the other day and is in good shape, but the flow of the game didn’t allow for him to be used. Something similar might happen with Pedersen on the right side of the defense, while Tiknizian is expected to return to the left. The Basque coach has shown time and again how much he values his players’ match fitness and their performance in recent training sessions. Bruno didn’t play well at Panthessaliko…
*photo source: KYPE
