Sporting Braga achieved what Olympiacos Piraeus couldn’t—a comeback victory. However, travelling to the Greek's home ground is extremely challenging.
The team is incredibly strong at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium. Their unbeaten streak extends to nine matches, with only one goalless draw against Panetolikos GFS Agrinio on 15 September breaking up an otherwise flawless string of victories. Last spring, even Aston Villa and Fenerbahçe were defeated by Olympiacos. Their defeat to Olympique Lyonnais shows the difference in class with Ligue 1; even an unstable lower-half French side is stronger than the bronze-winning Greek team. They were not poor either. With only 7 (3) shots, the team created 1.23 xG, not much less than Lyon’s 1.43 xG from a considerable 17 (7) shots.
Sporting Braga were losing 0:1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv by the 88th minute in their first-round match and could have been two goals down if not for the woodwork. However, a miraculous rescue and victory in the remaining seven minutes allowed the team to become one of 13 clubs to earn three points at the start. However, they squandered opportunities aplenty (31 (9) shots and 3.31 xG), causing a lot of frustration on the Portuguese bench. From their last three away games, Braga have brought back a win and two draws, but the victory was only against the Primeira Liga newcomers and strugglers CD Nacional.
The opponents’ squads are roughly equal in strength, but the home advantage favours Olympiacos Piraeus. They won’t have to travel across half of Europe. We’ll bet on Olympiacos Piraeus with a zero handicap for insurance against any surprises, but we believe in the Greek club’s victory.
