Carrying the all important away goal advantage into tonight’s return leg knockout stage fixture, Bordeaux are in pole position to qualify for the quarter final of the Champions League. Laurent Blanc’s men should easily overcome Olympiacos without any hustles.
However, what baffles me is Bordeaux’s indifferent form in the league. With players like Chamakh, Gourcuff, Plasil, Diara and Wendel in their ranks, it is more than hard to understand their luke warm approach in Ligue 1. A sere of defeats and draws has left them leading the Fench league by virtue of only a goal difference. Olympiacos on the other hand have to break the curse of producing poor performances when playing away from home. Coming to think of it, their home record is not to good either.
Olympiacos’s last 3 home games stretching back to Late February have resulted in a loss, a draw, and a win. To make matters worse for the Greek side, they will be missing key players, Dudu, Diogo, Jesus Datolo and Domi through injury. However, they can rely on lynchmen Nikopolidis, Mellberg, Papadopoulos and Raul Bravo to get the job done.
Of their last 5 games, Bordeaux have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 1. The French side will also be missing Abou Traore and Marc Planus through injury. This is it for Bordeaux, although they are leading the league, Montpelliere and Auxerre are not to far behind. Any slip-ups and Bordeaux could be out of the running in both competitions.
Bordeaux can defend and let their sinlge goal advantage get them through to the next round however, that won’t be fair play. That said, this game will most likely end in a barren draw or a 1-0 win in favour of Bordeaux.
Photo credit: Jean-Jacques h
