Olympiacos Piraeus vs Fenerbahce prediction: EUROPE: Europa Conference League – Play Offs betting tips on match 2024-04-10 16:45.
[p]The greatest comeback of any Round of 16 tie across UEFA’s three major club competitions this season almost certainly belonged to Greek side Olympiacos, who have the honour of hosting Turkey’s Fenerbahçe in the first leg of this UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final tie thanks to a 6-1 extra time demolition of Maccabi Tel Aviv that avenged a 4-1 loss in the home leg in the last 16.[/p]
[p]Losing at home is certainly not a habit any club wants to get into, but Olympiacos have been liable to doing just that lately. Of the 24 remaining clubs in UEFA’s three main continental competitions, they and Portuguese giants Benfica are the only two teams to have lost twice at home in UEFA football since the start of the group stage, with the Greek outfit falling to Maccabi Tel Aviv (4-1) and Freiburg (3-2) despite being graded as favourites on both occasions. [/p]
[p]On the basis of Fenerbahçe also losing at home in the last 16 (1-0), albeit with a three-goal advantage secured in the first leg away to Belgium’s Royale Union SG, this tie could follow a similar pattern to both club’s Round of 16 successes. The visitors’ first team squad is fresh for this trip after the club controversially fielded their under-19 team for the Turkish Super Cup final at the weekend against rivals Galatasaray, which lasted less than one minute before they forfeited the game as a protest due to its scheduling.[/p]
[p]Sacrificing a chance for Super Cup silverware shows just how much this Conference League knockout means to Fenerbahçe, especially as they’re also in the midst of a tense title battle with Galatasaray. Perhaps that’s because this is the furthest they’ve progressed in a UEFA tournament since the 2012/13 Europa League (semi-finals), whilst they also have a score to settle with their Greek opponents after losing twice to them in the group stage of the 2021/22 Europa League (3-0 home and 1-0 away).[/p]
[p]Players to watch: In addition to a brace in their last UEFA outing, Olympiacos’ Ayoub El Kaabi has scored before half-time in each of their last two league fixtures. 35-year-old veteran Dušan Tadić recorded one of Fenerbahçe’s three goals in their Round of 16 win and was Flashscore’s Player of the Match in their most recent league match.[/p]
[p]Hot streak: Fenerbahçe’s last 17 UEFA games all produced a winner – 13 of which were won by the Turkish side. [/p]