2022/2023 EL Group G: Olympiacos - Qarabag - Freiburg - Nantes

[bugylibicska]

To win the group:

Freiburg 1.02
Qarabag 19.00

Surely Freiburg will top the group and Qarabag have a very good chance to finish 2nd. Olympiakos still in it for 3rd place.

Freiburg 12
Qarabag 7
Nantes 3
Olympiakos 1

Next: Nantes - Qarabag, Freiburg - Olympiakos.

[Dragonite]

Congratulations Freiburg!


They progressed from this group with two games to spare. And even more impressive, they're currently the best team in EL!!

This huge improvement between their first (6 points in 2013/2014) and second (now) participations reminds me of another German team, Hoffenheim.

Hoffenheim in 2017/2018 got 5 points in its EL group. Three seasons later in 2020/2021 they returned and progressed from their EL group undefeated with 16 points, winning the first four games.

Freiburg already won the first four games, now let's see if they remain undefeated too.


Meanwhile, Olympiacos got its first point in Azerbaijan.

Their new goalkeeper Paschalakis wasn't even tested, Qarabag had zero shots on goal.

One point wasn't enough to avoid their first ever elimination in an EL group stage, now the best they can hope for is catching Nantes. And even that will become impossible if this week they don't win in Germany and Nantes wins at home against Qarabag.

[bugylibicska]

Freiburg won the group, but Qarabag stumbled, though still in a good position. Nantes must win in Athens and hope Qarabag won't.

Freiburg 13
Qarabag 7
Nantes 6
Olympiakos 2

Next: Qarabag - Freiburg, Olympiakos - nantes.

[Dragonite]

Congratulations Nantes!


They got their second win in this group, and once again it was a 2-1 win with the winning goal being scored after the 90th minute.

A draw in France would have been enough for Qarabag to progress from an EL group for the first time ever.

Now they're still above Nantes and with head-to-head advantage too, but if Nantes wins in Greece and Qarabag doesn't win against Freiburg then Nantes will get the second spot.

That would make the "top top whatever" worshippers extremely happy.

Seeing one team from Azerbaijan above a "top top whatever" would surely trigger the "they're not motivated" excuse, or the "B team".


This Olympiacos vs Nantes would be more interesting if Olympiacos was still alive.

Meanwhile, Olympiacos got its first point in Azerbaijan.

Their new goalkeeper Paschalakis wasn't even tested, Qarabag had zero shots on goal.

One point wasn't enough to avoid their first ever elimination in an EL group stage, now the best they can hope for is catching Nantes. And even that will become impossible if this week they don't win in Germany and Nantes wins at home against Qarabag.

On the 90th minute of these two round 5 games, Olympiacos was winning 1-0 in Germany, and Nantes vs Qarabag was 1-1.

Then in added time Freiburg scored in the 93rd minute, Nantes scored in the 95th minute, and so Olympiacos can't escape the bottom of this group anymore.

At least let's see if they can avoid the indecency of spending an entire season without a single win, qualifiers included!!

[matt]

The most interesting EL group in my opinion. Prediction:

Freiburg
Qarabag
Olympiakos
Nantes

In the debate between supporters of "smaller teams from big league" against "big teams from smaller leagues" i chose the middle ground, but Nantes ruined my prediction with two final wins. They deserve praise, because they are in a relegation fight (in a season with 4 relegations!), they could give up after matchday 4 but they didn't
Freiburg won the group as i expected, Qarabag over Olympiakos as i expected.

[Greyn]

I don't know if anyone already mentioned this, but Olympiacos has 0 wins in 12 matches in Europe this season. They and Dynamo Kyiv are biggest disappointments in this edition of the EL in my opinion.

[Dragonite]

Congratulations Nantes!


They won in Greece and Qarabag couldn't win its home match against an already qualified Freiburg, so Nantes climbed to the second spot.


And congratulations Qarabag!


They couldn't finish top 2 here, but 8 points is still their best ever EL campaign, and they're overwintering for the second season in a row.

Prediction:
1. Olympiacos
2. Qarabag
3. Nantes
4. Freiburg

Let's turn this upside down and it becomes a perfect prediction.

[Dragonite]

In the debate between supporters of "smaller teams from big league" against "big teams from smaller leagues" i chose the middle ground, but Nantes ruined my prediction with two final wins.

Sorry but I can't see a single big team here.

Olympiacos' EL record is 50 matches played, 15 wins, 10 draws and 25 defeats, 53 goals scored and 67 goals conceded.

A team that loses half of the matches that it plays and can't even keep a positive goal difference isn't a "big team".

Qarabag's EL record is 42 matches played, 8 wins, 10 draws and 24 defeats, 37 goals scored and 67 goals conceded.

So these two teams are "EL punching bags" if you want to label them.

Freiburg couldn't progress from an EL group with Estoril, Sevilla and Slovan Liberec in its previous participation, and couldn't even progress from a qualifier against Domzale in its previous international match. They're just lucky that this time they're automatically qualified to the EL group stages, and that their group opponents are EL punching bags.

Nantes isn't much different from Freiburg, they're lucky that they qualified automatically to the EL group stage and that their group opponents are EL punching bags.

I may change my mind about Nantes and/or Freiburg if Nantes eliminates Juventus, and/or if Freiburg eliminates its next opponent.