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Group D

Olympiakos coach Trond Sollied hopes to make home advantage count as his side welcome Roma for the first of two back-to-back Champions League matches.

“We are playing our most important Champions League game so far,” said Sollied.

“We know that if we get a good result everything is open, and we also know that because we will meet Roma twice in a row, a draw could also be a good result. But normally we have to win at home and that is what we will try to do. In these games you also need a little luck and since my son is four tomorrow, I hope this is a good omen for us.”

“Roma have a good team who lost over the weekend,” Sollied said. “It doesn’t mean anything because the Champions League is the Champions League and it’s totally different from the domestic championship.”

Roma go into the game against the backdrop of Tuesday’s train crash in the Italian capital which claimed the lives of two people and left more than 50 injured. Coach Spalletti could not confirm whether his players would wear black armbands out of respect for the victims, but said: “We feel sympathy for the victims and we will try to help the mood with a good result.”

The visitors, three points behind group leaders Valencia, are looking to avoid a fifth successive away defeat in the Champions League. However, they are without injured trio Vincenzo Montella, Mancini and Philippe Mexes while forward David Pizarro is missing for personal reasons.

Matters aren’t helped by minor knocks picked up by Matteo Ferrari and Francesco Totti.

“We face a difficult game but I think my players will be serious in their approach to get a positive result,” Spalletti said. “The (Serie A) loss to Reggina has had a good effect on us because we didn’t play badly and we have learnt something. Our fans have high expectations of us and I think we can match them here.”

Probable teams
Olympiakos:
Antonios Nikopolidis; Christos Patsatzoglou, Georgios Anatolakis, Abdeslam Ouaddou, Dider Domi; Nery Alberto Castillo, Ieroklis Stoltidis, Pantelis Kafes, Predrag Djordjevic; Rivaldo, Michalis Konstantinou.

Roma:Doni; Christian Panucci, Cristian Chivu, Matteo Ferrari, Max Tonetto; Simone Perrotta, Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani, Aleandro Rosi, Taddei; Francesco Totti.


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