Barcelona thrashed Olympiacos 6-1 in the third round of the Champions League, making amends for their loss to PSG in the previous match. Fermín López, who scored a hat-trick for the Greek team, was definitely the most prominent character of the entire duel. The Blaugranas took a two-goal lead in the first half, but the visitors still resisted and even reduced the lead. But then Santiago Hezz missed a red card and the home team started the scoring machine.
In the beginning, the guests surprised the opponent and Daniel Podence tested Wojciech Szczesný after 20 seconds, but the home team quickly took the initiative. Marcus Rashford was the first to try his luck, but he shot over the goal. However, the López – Lamine Yamal duo was much more successful, exchanging the ball a couple of times in the seventh minute, after which the former fired. The shot was hit by two defenders and Konstantinos Tzolakis only looked back as the ball ended up behind him.
The Greeks then took courage again and partially leveled the picture of the game. Gelson Martins’ attempt was brought down by Jules Koundé and Lorenzo Pirola headed over. Six minutes before halftime, the Greek team received a tough directive. The youngster Pedro Fernández took advantage of a mistake in the defense, moved the ball to López and he doubled the Catalans’ lead with his second goal of the evening. He could have completed the hat trick immediately after the break, but this time his header was covered by Tzolakis.
Olympiacos certainly didn’t cut corners and the effort paid off soon after the change of sides. Ayjúb el-Kabi deflected the cross behind Szczesny. Although VAR called off the goal because Podence prevented the goalkeeper from being in an offside position, however, the visitors did not wait long after that. Eric García played with his hand in the goal and el-Kabí did not disdain the penalty offered. It already seemed that the Greek team could really anger the Spanish giant, however, the hope was dashed by Hezz, who saw a second yellow card in the 57th minute and weakened his team, after which Barca started an offensive concert.
Yamal first gave the home side a two-goal lead from the penalty spot, after which Rashford beautifully confused Tzolakis and added a handsome fourth goal. In two minutes, López scored a hat-trick with an uncompromising shot, and in the 79th minute, Rashford completed the destruction, again outsmarting the visiting goalkeeper. For Olympiacos, the final score is quite tough given the course of the game.
In the next round, the Greeks will try to atone for this defeat against PSV, while Barcelona will travel to Belgium to face Brugge.
