Olympiacos Beat Sparta Prague 1-0 to Make It Three From Three in the Europa League

By Taki Panos

For 77 minutes it looked like one of those nights where everything is close and nothing goes in. Then two substitutes changed it. Olympiacos beat Sparta Prague 1-0 at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday, October 22, 2026, on Matchday 3 of the Europa League league phase, as Sport24 and CNN Greece reported. The only goal came in the 78th minute, and it made it three wins from three for the Piraeus club in Europe this season.

For readers just joining the story, this is a strong start by any measure. Olympiacos opened the league phase with a 2-1 home win over Jagiellonia on September 16 and then won 1-0 away at Marseille on October 15, according to UEFA's official fixtures list. Add the domestic form, including a 2-0 win at Panaitolikos last weekend, and the team arrived at the Karaiskakis full of confidence. If you want the bigger picture of what this club means to Greek football, our history of Olympiacos is a good place to start.

The first half belonged to the hosts, at least in terms of territory. Imanol Alguacil's side pressed high from the start, but Brian Priske's Sparta held their shape and broke the pressure well, per CNN Greece. The first real look came in the 24th minute, when Chiquinho slipped a lovely pass to Gelson Martins, who placed his shot just wide, as both Sport24 and CNN Greece described it. Close, but not close enough.

Remo Freuler then tried something cheeky, a backheel inside the box after a ball from the right, and it ran across the face of goal, a moment Sport24 and CNN Greece both highlighted. In the 34th minute Bruno Onyemaechi let fly from inside the area, and that went wide too. Olympiacos had Sparta pinned back for long spells before the break, yet the scoreboard still read 0-0 at halftime. You could sense the crowd getting a little restless.

The second half started with the Czech side growing into the game. Sparta brought on Sivert Mannsverk at the break, and around the hour Macek had their best chance, a shot that took a deflection and went out for a corner, per Sport24 and CNN Greece. For a few minutes it looked like the visitors might be the ones to nick it. That is often how these nights go.

Alguacil did not wait. In the 62nd minute he took off Roman Yaremchuk and Hezze and sent on Armando González and Puerta, according to the lineups published by CNN Greece and the Czech outlet Deník. In the 74th minute came a second double change, with Marcus Pedersen replacing Greek right back Giorgos Saliakas and Tiknizyan coming on for Bruno. The bench was about to win the match.

The goal arrived in the 78th minute. Pedersen beat Alcócer on the right and swung a sweet cross into the heart of the Sparta defense, and González attacked it with a powerful header, Gazzetta reported. The ball took a touch off Mannsverk on the way in. Gazzetta noted that the goal was first given to the Mexican striker and later recorded by UEFA as an own goal, and Deník lists it as an own goal by Mannsverk. Whatever the scoresheet says, the Karaiskakis erupted.

Sparta had one more moment. In the 82nd minute a Sparta player struck a shot from inside the box after a loose clearance, and it flew just wide, per Sport24 and CNN Greece. That was about it. Deník was blunt from the Czech side, writing that Sparta offered very little going forward and managed only one shot on target, right at the end. Olympiacos saw out the final minutes without much drama.

Credit to the coach here. Both men who combined for the winner came off the bench, which is exactly what you hope for from a deep squad playing twice a week. Sport24 called it Imanol's magic wand, and it is hard to argue. Panagiotis Retsos, the Greek center back, was solid alongside Lorenzo Pirola all night, and goalkeeper Ortega was rarely tested, which tells you how well the back line did its job.

The table now looks very kind to the Piraeus club. Olympiacos have nine points from three matches and sit in the top five of the 36-team league phase, per Sport24, while Sparta stay on four points after three games, per Deník and UEFA's results. The top eight teams go straight to the round of 16, and teams ninth to 24th go into a playoff round, so a perfect start puts real pressure on the clubs chasing them.

It was also a night with mixed results for Greek clubs. Earlier in the evening OFI gave everything in Heraklion but lost 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen, so Olympiacos supplied the good news on Greek football's big European Thursday. Fans who come to watch a Europa League night in person should know the stadium is in Faliro, an easy trip from the center, and our guide on getting from Athens to Piraeus covers the options.

My take: this was not a classic, and Olympiacos will know they made it harder than it needed to be. The first half had plenty of pressure but not enough clear chances, and Sparta looked dangerous for a spell after the break. But winning tight games is a skill too. Three wins, all of them by a single goal and one of them away at Marseille, is the profile of a team that knows how to manage European nights. That matters more than style in October.

Next up in the Europa League, Olympiacos travel to Rennes on Thursday, November 5, at 7:45 PM Greek time, before hosting Milan in Piraeus on November 26, per UEFA and Athletiko. Rennes are the side that beat OFI 2-1 a week earlier, so there is a little Greek score to settle. Keep an eye on our Greek Sports section for every Olympiacos result on the road to the knockout rounds. Three from three. Not bad at all.

Sources: Sport24, CNN Greece, Gazzetta, Deník, UEFA, Athletiko.

Image: Olympiacos crest, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0).