Olympiacos v Levante preview

Olympiacos coach Michel has warned compatriots Levante not to expect a comfortable passage through to the next round, despite boasting a 3-0 advantage heading into Thursday's last-32 second leg.

Last Updated: 20/02/13 at 11:59   

Olympiacos: 3-0 down to Levante ahead of second leg

Olympiacos: 3-0 down to Levante ahead of second leg

Levante, playing in their first-ever European campaign, stunned the 39-time Greek champions in last week's first meeting thanks to goals from Pedro Rios, Jose Barkero and Obafemi Martins in Valencia.

And it might have been even better for Juan Ignacio Martinez's side if Martins had not also missed a first-half penalty in an incident which saw Olympiacos lose Djamel Abdoun to a red card.

That has left Levante as clear favourites to progress through to the last 16, but Michel insists his side will not be going down without a scrap at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus (kick-off 8.05pm GMT).

Speaking in his programme notes for the match, the former Spain international said: "We have a difficult game before us, but none of us will give up the fight. Players, coaching staff and first of all me, we will give it everything to try and qualify.

"The score may not be in our favour, but we have advantages that we want to make the most of.

"First of all the quality of our team; we have good players and battlers who will give their all.

"Secondly, the fact that we are playing at home gives us another huge incentive to do what we need to reverse the situation."

He added: "We need to remain down to earth, knowing that we are facing a good team who have the scoreline in their favour, but we are Olympiacos, a club that has been been built on titles and major successes.

"We can only promise that we will give our best and will try to make everybody at the club happy."

Olympiacos bounced back from their loss in Spain with a 2-0 league win at Xanthi on Sunday to maintain their 16-point lead at the top of the Super League standings.

Levante's domestic form has not been as good, however, and their 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad at the weekend left them with five defeats and only one win in their last seven league and cup games in Spain.

Things are going better in Europe, where they have only lost once in nine matches, although midfielder Michel is not about to underestimate the threat Olympiacos could pose.

"We've got an important advantage but there are 90 minutes left where anything can happen," he told reporters.

"We have to keep our feet on the ground and go there as if the tie was 0-0. It would be bad if we went there with the mentality of being 3-0 up. They are very dangerous at home."

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