Rangers 1-3 Olympiakos

Rangers 1-3 Olympiakos 

Pre-Season Friendly

Wednesday 26th July 2023

Despite having seen close to 1,800 matches this game was a case of delving into uncharted territory for me as it was my first time EVER watching Greek opponents.

Even though I’ve seen a game at most well-known stadiums in Europe bar a few notable exceptions such as the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Seville’s stadiums and RB Leipzig’s ‘Red Bull Arena’ (don’t worry, they’re all on the agenda) somehow I’ve never been to Greece - and even in the 70 matches I’ve seen out on the continent, friendlies like this or Champions League games in England, the Greeks have just never been involved.

With that in mind, plus the fact tickets were very reasonably priced at £15 (decent for a pre-season game - especially considering it was double that at Murrayfield for Man United vs Lyon last week), the temptation was more than enough and on a wet Glaswegian night I was heading down to Ibrox.

Like Rangers, Olympiakos are the biggest, best and most successful team in their own country, so it made for a decent game.

And by a quirky coincidence, this game was exactly 12 years to the night I watched my first ever game at Ibrox when Malmo infamously won 1-0 in a Champions League Qualifier that acted as a precursor for the financial problems and subsequent meltdown which Rangers soon went on to endure.

That Malmo game was a drab performance and, by another coincidence, although the stakes weren’t anywhere near as high in this game, the display that Rangers put in was equally as lukewarm as Olympiakos ran-out very comfortable 3-1 winners; albeit all three of their goals had a shade of good fortune about them.

Concerning still, however, if you’re a Rangers fan and wondering what’s in store when either Genk or Servette rock up at Ibrox in the next couple of weeks in the Champions League Qualifying Round when the result really will matter.

Infront of a half-full Ibrox (not a bad effort considering the two other pre-season games against Newcastle and Hamburg recently; both of which were arranged with a lot more notice as well), the first half of this game was quite tedious - and that’s putting it mildly!

Rangers started well enough as the Olympiakos ‘keeper was forced into a couple of flying saves but as the half wore on, the Greeks battled their way back into things - only when they did come to have a shot, their striker probably created a piece of Ibrox history as the ball nestled in the UPPER tier.

It sort of summed up the way the first half was heading; drifting aimlessly towards a 0-0 stalemate at the break which seemed inevitable!

But then, just a minute before the whistle was due, the Greeks got their noses ahead as Konstantinos Fortounis’s volley from the edge of the box; part-technique, part-slice and part-stab, caught a deflection which wrong-footed Robby McCrorie and ended up in the net.

1-0 to the Greeks! And stunned silence…

The opening goal did, at least, generate a decent response from Rangers because at the start of the second half, Michael Beale’s team seemed to have woken up. The build-up play was suddenly a bit sharper, it was all a bit quicker, the intensity felt better and when Todd Cantwell latched onto a through ball and was sent sprawling by the Olympiakos ‘keeper as he tried to round him (might also have been an ‘exaggerated fall’ by the ex-Norwich man), the referee was quick to point to the spot.

The Greeks weren’t happy and as they surrounded the referee in numbers; protesting, complaining and moaning about the decision, their fury was evident - clearly they’d forgotten this was a friendly and their ultra-competitive edge was coming out!

After a lengthy delay in which a yellow card was shown (bizarre I tell thee), James Tavernier slammed the ball into the net from the spot to make 1-1 - and now, with the momentum on their side, you’d have bet your house on Rangers going on to seize their grip on the game and win.

But that wasn’t to be the case!

Soon enough, the Greeks restored their lead down at the other end with Joao Carvalho claiming the goal despite Johnly Yfeko’s best efforts to keep the ball out with some desperate back-tracking and last-ditch defending on the goal-line. 

And if that wasn’t enough of an unexpected bolt from the blue, Carvalho soon made it 3-1 with a shot which caught another deflection and beat a flat-footed Jon McLaughlin - again against the run of play to some extent, but even though there were still 20 minutes to go at this point, it already felt the game was beyond Rangers as a trickle of fans started to make their escape!

There weren’t any more goals despite the Olympiakos ‘keeper again being a busy boy and parrying EVERYTHING that came his way; he certainly wasn’t one of them ‘keepers who knew the art of catching the ball (that’s for sure) but overall there’s no escaping from the fact this was a poor Rangers performance. 

Olympiakos got lucky at times - especially with the deflections, but much more was expected from Rangers and things need to improve quickly if these players want to enjoy a prolonged European adventure this season!