Champions League

PIR Olympiacos Olympiacos - B04 Leverkusen Bayer Leverkusen

Olympiacos Olympiacos

Leverkusen Bayer Leverkusen

63'
P. Schick
60'
P. Schick

Georgios Karaiskakis

João Pedro da Silva Pinheiro

Leverkusen captain Andrich: "You have to be patient"

"The game played a bit like games can in a heated stadium. You have to be patient, and you have to defend well. We did that very well for long stretches. And that's the first step."

Schick: "An important victory"

"In the first half, we approached the game in a very complicated way. In the second half, we improved a few things, scored two goals, and secured an important victory."

Hjulmand: "I had a sense of déjà-vu"

"We had great chances in the first half; I had a sense of déjà-vu from last time [when Olympiacos won 2-0]. After the first goal, we were in control and played quite well. But we are only at half-time, and it's not over yet; we still have to play a good game at home."

Full-time: Olympiacos 0-2 Leverkusen

It's a job very well done for Leverkusen as the visitors leave Greece with a two-goal advantage ahead of the second leg next week. Two quickfire goals from Schick did the business, and after that, Olympiacos just didn't seem to have anything left.

End of second half

Full-time

90'

+ 1

Added time

There'll be three minutes of additional time.

88'

Not far away

Luiz skips past Palacios on the right before firing a low cross into Scipioni. He shoots, but his effort is just a touch too high.

87'

Leverkusen rotate

On come Fernández and Kofane for García and Schick.

87'

Substitution

Ezequiel Fernández

Aleix García

87'

Substitution

Christian Kofane

Patrik Schick

86'

Wide

Onyemaechi has a go, but misses the target.

84'

Good dribbling, wild shot

Luiz battles his way past a couple of Leverkusen players before firing wildly off target. Leverkusen look comfortable.

82'

More Olympiacos changes

Onyemaechi is on for Ortega and Scipioni for Hezze. Can Olympiacos find a way back into the tie?

82'

Substitution

Bruno Onyemaechi

Francisco Ortega

82'

Substitution

Lorenzo Scipioni

Santiago Hezze

77'

Double change

Arthur and Terrier replace Vázquez and Poku for Leverkusen.

77'

Substitution

Arthur

Lucas Vázquez

76'

Substitution

Martin Terrier

Ernest Poku

73'

Rodinei almost catches out Blaswich

The Olympiacos defender tries to send in a cross, but the delivery has so much power on it that Blaswich is called into action to tip the ball behind for a corner.

69'

Schick fires over

Grimaldo fires in a low cross to Schick. He meets it first time, but can only fire narrowly over the bar.

64'

Changes from both sides

Two changes from Olympiacos and one from Leverkusen after that goal, as Chiquinho replaces Taremi, and Luiz replaces Podence for Olympiacos and Tillman takes the place of Maza for Leverkusen.

64'

Substitution

Malik Tillman

Ibrahim Maza

64'

Substitution

Chiquinho

Mehdi Taremi

64'

Substitution

André Luiz

Daniel Podence

Schick makes it a double

Grimaldo whips in a corner from the right, and Schick meets it to head home from just in front of the goalkeeper. Leverkusen have breathing space.

63'

Patrik Schick

GOAL!

0:2

Leverkusen lead!

And it's a lovely goal too. Taremi loses the ball, and it falls to Poku. He breaks forward and slips the ball through to Schick, who takes the pass in his stride before neatly feeding the ball into the bottom corner. A potentially big moment in this tie.

60'

Patrik Schick

GOAL!

0:1

57'

Grimaldo can only hit Tzolakis

Maza does superbly to get to the byline and cross the ball towards the centre. Poku gets there and sets a pass back to Grimaldo, who shoots straight at Tzolakis.

53'

Not far away

Martins wins a free-kick off Grimaldo. Mouzakitis whips in the set-piece, and Biancone meets it at the back post, but he can't direct his header on target from a few yards out.

47'

Superb from Martins

The Portuguese has looked like a real threat so far, and this time he picks up the ball on halfway, spins Grimaldo and charges towards goal before firing narrowly over with a powerful drive.

46'

Back underway

The second half has started, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Pirola has been replaced by Biancone at the break for Olympiacos.

Kick-off!

45'

+ 10

Substitution

Giulian Biancone

Lorenzo Pirola

Half-time: Olympiacos 0-0 Leverkusen

It's goalless at the break, and Leverkusen can count themselves a little lucky having seen that goal ruled out at the end of the half. Other than that, it has been a pretty even game. The Olympiacos high press has caused Leverkusen a few problems, but at the other end, the visitors could have easily taken the lead through any one of Maza, Schick or Poku.

Half-time

45'

+ 8

Olympiacos on top

The hosts are finishing the half well and causing Leverkusen some problems.

Tzolakis' stunning stop

A closer look at that fantastic save from Maza's shot midway through the half.

45'

+ 1

Added time

As expected, there will be a lot of added time; eight minutes in total, and it may be longer after that VAR review.

45'

The ball is in the net

But it won't count! Rodinei whips in a free-kick that is met by El Kaabi and rolls into the far corner. The Olympiacos players celebrate, but after a review, it turns out that El Kaabi's flick hit the back of Taremi on the way through, and the Iranian was in an offside position. A spot of luck for Leverkusen.

44'

Another break in play

After winning a header a minute or so ago, Pirola seems to have reopened that nasty head wound he suffered a few minutes ago. He is now once again receiving treatment.

42'

García in the book

The Spaniard takes a loose touch in midfield and catches Podence on the ankle. The foul earns him a yellow card.

42'

Yellow card

Aleix García

40'

Back underway

After that lengthy break, the ball is moving again, and both Olympiacos players are bandaged up and back on the pitch.

Tzolakis putting in another big performance

After putting in a superb display when the two sides met last month, Tzolakis seems intent on keeping a clean sheet tonight. He's already made a couple of big saves.

34'

A break in play

Retsos and Pirola crash into each other whilst both going for the same ball, and it is a really nasty collision. There's a break in play as both players receive treatment for head injuries.

31'

Poku should open the scoring

Maza takes the ball and spins his man superbly before feeding Poku through on goal. He only has the keeper to beat, although he scuffs his effort horribly wide from a superb position.

28'

Sensational

Palacios sends a good cross to the back post that Schick nods back across goal to Maza. He takes the ball on the volley, but Tzolakis reacts brilliantly to go against his stride and tip the shot onto the crossbar.

26'

Mouzakitis has a go

An Olympiacos corner drops to Mouzakitis on the edge of the box. He shoots, but his effort is blocked on the edge of the box.

25'

What an effort!

Martins unleashes a powerful drive from over 30 yards out that is arrowing towards the top right corner, but Blaswich has enough time to get across and tip the ball out for a corner.

21'

Schick with a half-chance

A wonderful ball in from Quansah finds Schick, but he can't get a shot away.

19'

Almost a chance

Quansah almost makes a terrible mistake and passes the ball to El Kaabi in the Leverkusen box. He spins and shoots, but Tapsoba is there to make an important recovery block.

17'

Poku fires narrowly wide

More danger from the Leverkusen right-hand side as Vázquez fires in another bouncing cross that Schick manages to control and flick towards Poku. The Dutchman lets fly, but his half-volley fizzes just wide of the far post.

16'

Big chance

Leverkusen combine well down the right, and a cross from Vázquez is flicked on by Maza. Schick meets the ball just in front of goal, but Tzolakis is there to make an important stop.

13'

El Kaabi in the book

The striker appears to slip whilst trying to close down Andrich and catches the Germany international on the foot. The challenge earns him the first yellow of the night.

13'

Yellow card

Ayoub El Kaabi

11'

Good combination

Poku dips inside and tries to find Schick in the box. The striker gets a toe on the ball that nearly sets Maza free, but Tzolakis reacts to claim the ball.

10'

An even start to the game

Both sides have had periods of possession in the opening 10 minutes, but Taremi's effort is the only moment of note so far. After attempting to play out from the back early on, Leverkusen have started to play the ball long every so often to beat Olympiacos' high press.

Space to shoot

El Kaabi knocks a long ball down into the path of Taremi. He takes a touch and then hits a half-volley, but doesn't connect cleanly, and the shot drifts wide.

A fast start

Olympiacos are taking the game to Leverkusen in the opening few minutes, and the referee has done a good job so far of letting the game flow and not giving soft free-kicks.

We're underway

Olympiacos get the ball moving. Can either side make a statement in the first leg?

Kick-off!

A cracking atmosphere

The fans are certainly making themselves heard inside the stadium. This looks set to be a classic.

Kick-off fast approaching

The players are on the pitch, and the famous Champions League anthem is blaring out all around the stadium. Not long until we get underway now.

A historic goal on the cards?

If Leverkusen manage to score tonight, it will be their 200th in the Champions League.

More on that Olympiacos team

It's four changes for Olympiacos from the side that drew 0-0 away to Levadiakos at the weekend as Pirola, Ortega, Podence and Taremi all come into the starting XI. Taremi grabbed Olympiacos' second goal last time out against Leverkusen.

More on that Leverkusen team

Having thrashed St. Pauli 4-0 last time out, Hjulmand decides there is no need for changes and names the same side that played on Saturday. In fact, eight of tonight's starters were in the starting XI when these two sides met about one month ago. The three new faces for tonight are Palacios, Tapsoba, and Schick.

Olympiacos starting XI

Tzolakis – Rodinei, Retsos (c), Pirola, Ortega – Mouzakitis, Hezze - Gelson Martins, Taremi, Podence – El Kaabi

Olympiacos subs

Paschalakis, Botis, Biancone, Kalogeropoulos, Diogo Nascimento, Dani García, Scipioni, André Luiz, Clayton, Costinha, Chiquinho, Onyemaechi

Leverkusen starting XI

Blaswich – Quansah, Andrich (c), Tapsoba – Vázquez, Palacios, García, Grimaldo – Maza, Poku – Schick

Leverkusen subs

Omlin, Lomb, Badé, Fernández, Hofmann, Tillman, Terrier, Arthur, Oermann, Tape, Kofane, Culbreath

1:19

Watch: Leverkusen's best goals this season

1:50

Watch: More from Hjulmand & Andrich

Kasper Hjulmand on facing Olympiacos

"We're hoping for a better start tomorrow than in last month's match. That was our last defeat, and we've learned a lot from it. We want to deliver a top performance and are ready for the first of two important games."

José Luis Mendilibar on facing Leverkusen

"Just because we beat them last time does not mean that we will win – or that we will lose. We need to be as effective as we were [in the league phase game]."

Simon Rolfes' thoughts ahead of Olympiacos trip

“We expect the same heated atmosphere in Piraeus and the same style of football from Olympiacos," said the Leverkusen sporting director. "The experience from the league phase match will help us tomorrow. We want to progress and reach the Champions League round of 16 - that’s a huge motivation for us. We want to win and put ourselves in a good position for the return leg. The play-off round will ultimately be decided here in Leverkusen, but we have to lay the foundation tomorrow in Athens with a top performance.”

Early team news

Leverkusen are set to be without Eliesse Ben Seghir (ankle), Mark Flekken (knee) and Nathan Tella (foot) for the trip to Greece.

New record for Tapsoba

Edmond Tapsoba scored Leverkusen's third against Pauli, nodding home from a corner for his fourth of the campaign to break his own individual goalscoring record. Prior to this term, the defender's record goal haul for a single Bundesliga season stood at three goals.

0:58

Watch: Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 St. Pauli - highlights

Kasper Hjulmand's men got back to winning ways on Matchday 22 with an assured attacking display against Pauli.

Mixed fortunes

Leverkusen have faced Greek opposition over two legs only twice before in European competition, beating Panathinaikos 5-3 on aggregate in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round before losing 6-4 on aggregate to AEK Athens in the third round of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup. As for Olympiacos, their victory over Bayer last month was their first win over German opposition in 14 attempts.

Head-to-head

The teams' only other previous meetings came in the first group stage of the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League. Olympiacos got the better of Leverkusen in Piraeus, but goals from Juan and Bernd Schneider (pictured) earned Bayer a 2-0 victory on home soil.

Leverkusen - the story so far

Defeat at Olympiacos on Matchday 7 of the league phase left Kasper Hjulmand's side in a slightly precarious position heading into their final game at home to Villarreal. Leverkusen side had only beaten Benfica (1-0) and Manchester City (2-0) up to that point, drawing with Copenhagen, PSV and Newcastle United and losing heavily at home to Paris Saint-Germain. Leverkusen stepped up when it mattered, though, triumphing 3-0 over the La Liga outfit to confirm their knockout phase play-off spot.

Olympiacos - the story so far

When Olympiacos were beaten 4-3 by Real Madrid on Matchday 5, their hopes of qualifying from the league phase appeared slim at best. However, three straight wins against Kairat, Leverkusen and Ajax earned the Greek champions a place in the knockout round play-offs, where they will face Die Werkself for the second time this season.

Hello and welcome!

Welcome along and thanks for joining us for build-up and live coverage of this UEFA Champions League knockout play-off first leg between Olympiacos and Bayer Leverkusen.