Overview
Bayer Leverkusen of coach Kasper Hjulmand has reason to be confident before the second leg of the UEFA Champions League play-offs, after gaining an advantage away from home. However, the Bundesliga representative understand that they are not allowed to be subjective against a familiar and determined opponent.
Die Werkself has won 6 of their last 8 matches in all competitions, despite just conceding 0-1 to Union Berlin last weekend. That defeat caused Leverkusen to drop to sixth place in the Bundesliga, making the race for a Champions League spot next season unpredictable.
However, in the European arena this season, Leverkusen's goal is still to repeat or surpass the achievement of the 2024-2025 season, when they reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by Bayern Munich with a total score of 0-5.
The big strength for the BayArena home team is their impressive home form. They have won 4 consecutive victories, along with a clean sheet record in all 4 matches. The solidity in the defense is becoming the foundation for their ambition to go further.
In the opposite direction, Olympiacos under the guidance of Jose Luis Mendilibar started the Champions League campaign not very smoothly when losing 2 of the first 3 matches. However, 3 consecutive victories in the later stage helped them win a play-off ticket.
Notably, that series of matches included a 2-0 victory over Leverkusen - a result that gave "Thrylos" confidence in their ability to reverse the situation even though they were 2 goals behind before the second leg.
However, the recent form of the Greek representative shows signs of stagnation. Before this rematch, they only won 1 in the last 4 matches in all competitions, even being silent in 3 consecutive matches (2 losses, 1 draw). However, the 2-0 victory over Panetolikos last weekend could become a timely morale boost.
Olympiacos' belief is further strengthened when they are unbeaten away from home since the 1-6 defeat to Barcelona at the end of October last year. With that baggage, the Greek team has the right to be optimistic before the challenging away trip to BayArena.
Personnel situation
Bayer Leverkusen enters the second leg with significant losses in force. Goalkeeper Mark Flekken is absent due to a knee injury, while center-back Loic Bade has a hamstring problem. Janis Blaswich is likely to be given a starting spot, ahead of him is the defensive trio Jarell Quansah, Robert Andrich and Edmond Tapsoba.
In the front line, attacking midfielder Nathan Tella suffered a leg injury and is expected to be out for next month. Meanwhile, Eliesse Ben Seghir may reappear after recovering from an ankle injury.
In attack, Ibrahim Maza and Ernest Poku are expected to support Patrik Schick, while the two wings will be played by Lucas Vazquez and Alex Grimaldo to stretch the opponent's defense system.
On the other side, Olympiacos travels to Germany with almost full force. Midfielder Theofanis Bakoulas is the only notable absent case due to not fully recovering from a ligament injury.
With the current situation, Christos Mouzakitis and Santiago Hezze are likely to guard the midfield, creating a launching pad for the attacking quartet including Mehdi Taremi, Gelson Martins, Daniel Podence and Ayoub El Kaabi.
Expected lineup:
Bayer Leverkusen: Blaswich, Quansah, Andrich, Tapsoba, Vazquez, Palacios, Garcia, Grimaldo, Maza, Poku, Schick.
Tzolakis, Costinha, Retsos, Biancone, Ortega, Hezze, Mouzakitis, Martins, Taremi, Podence, El Kaabi.
The match between Bayer Leverkusen and Olympiacos takes place at 3:00 AM on February 25 (Vietnam time).
