A taxing journey to the Stade de la Beaujoire awaits Olympiacos in their inaugural Europa League fixture of the year, as Nantes lie in wait in Group G on Thursday.
The two sides will also do battle with Qarabag and Freiburg in the coming months, with first place in the group surely in the sights of both teams.
Match preview
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Earning a direct route into the Europa League courtesy of their memorable Coupe de France triumph last term, Nantes made waves in the French footballing landscape under Antoine Kombouare last term, but stamping their authority has proven more difficult this time around.
Since going down 4-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Trophee des Champions, Les Canaris have only managed to win one of their first six Ligue 1 fixtures of the new season, and their solitary victory came at home against a newly-promoted side in Toulouse.
Another daunting clash with PSG awaited Nantes at the weekend, and Kombouare witnessed his former side secure another comfortable success - this time by a scoreline of three goals to nil thanks to a Kylian Mbappe brace and Nuno Mendes's effort following Fabio's early sending off.
Watching the now-departed Randal Kolo Muani star for Eintracht Frankfurt is rubbing salt into the wounds for Nantes, who have not been the same since the French striker departed the club in the summer, and they have now gone five games without a clean sheet.
Previously regulars in the old-style UEFA Cup - even reaching the quarter-finals in 1986 and 1995 - Nantes are plying their trade in the Europa League for the very first time this year, and the 2022-23 campaign marks their return to the continent 21 years after being eliminated from the 2001-02 Champions League in the group stage.
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In contrast to the relative European novices, Olympiacos are no strangers to the second tier of continental football, but the 47-time Greek champions could have been plying their trade in the Champions League had they not been subjected to a 5-1 aggregate humbling by Maccabi Haifa in qualifying round two.
Taking over from Pedro Martins following a second successive Champions League qualifying elimination, ex-Huddersfield Town manager Carlos Corberan ensured that Olympiacos would have the consolation prize of Europa League football after seeing off Slovan Bratislava and Apollon on penalties to make the group stage.
Getting the better of those two sides on spot kicks was hardly a convincing way for the Piraeus outfit to mark their return to the Europa League, where they will feature for the fifth season in a row, and they have progressed into the knockout rounds every single time.
A strong start to the Super League Greece season has seen the reigning champions accumulate seven points from nine on offer to sit second in the table, only behind a perfect Panathinaikos, and the Red-Whites ran out comfortable 3-1 winners over Ionikos at the weekend.
Now seeking to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven matches, Olympiacos are meeting Nantes in competitive action for the very first time this week, but only nine of their previous 30 meetings with French sides in Europe have ended in victory.
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Team News
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Nantes full-back Fabio will be fine to take his place in defence here as he prepares to serve his suspension in Ligue 1, and the ex-Manchester United man should be required while Quentin Merlin recovers from a calf injury.
Moussa Sissoko and Moses Simon were also absent from the defeat to PSG through injury and are likely to sit this one out as well, while centre-back Jean-Charles Castelletto will need assessing after coming off with adductor pain at the weekend.
Kombouare is confident that Castelletto's issue is not a serious one, but right-back Sebastien Corchia is ready to be drafted into the back three if his fellow defender is not risked for midweek.
Olympiacos are also facing a defensive quandary for a different reason this week, as centre-back Ousseynou Ba will sit Thursday's game out through suspension, allowing Sokratis or Panagiotis Retsos to come in alongside Kostas Manolas.
Former Real Madrid left-back Marcelo was introduced to the fans prior to their win over Ionikos, and the 34-year-old could make his debut here, but Mathieu Valbuena and Sime Vrsaljko are suffering from injuries.
With such a vast array of players from which to choose from, Corberan has left the likes of Konrad de la Fuente, Philip Zinckernagel, Konstantinos Fortounis and Kenny Lala out of his Europa League squad, while Hwang Ui-jo and Youssef El Arabi will battle for the number nine spot.
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Pallois, Castelletto, Girotto; Fabio, Chirivella, Moutoussamy, Appiah; Blas, Ganago, Guessand
Olympiacos possible starting lineup:
Vaclik; Pipa, Retsos, Manolas, Reabciuk; Bouchalakis, M'Vila; Masouras, Biel, Rodrigues; Hwang
We say: Nantes 1-2 Olympiacos
The next few games may determine whether Nantes are just experiencing a temporary blip or the dreaded second-season syndrome, but the signs are not too promising for Kombouare at present, and his side have very little experience on the continent.
In contrast, Olympiacos' crop is full of players who know what it takes to achieve success in European competition, and we expect Corberan's men to continue their hot streak in front of goal to make the long journey worthwhile.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
