Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Olympiacos v Pafos - Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece - September 17, 2025 Olympiacos' Daniel Podence in action with Pafos' Bruno REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
PIREAUS, Greece (Reuters) -A wasteful Olympiakos could only manage a 0-0 home draw against 10-man Pafos, who emerged as defensive heroes in their Champions League opener on Wednesday.
Pafos faced a big challenge from the 26th minute when forward Bruno was dismissed after receiving a second booking for a foul on the hosts’ Lorenzo Pirola, forcing the Cypriot side to play with 10 men for the rest of the match.
Despite the advantage, Olympiakos struggled, with Ayoub El Kaabi coming close early in the second half with a header that drifted wide.
Pafos produced a valiant defensive effort, several times blocking attempts as chances grew for the hosts.
Olympiakos’ Mehdi Taremi came close to levelling the playing field when he was initially shown a straight red card for a tackle on Jaja during a Pafos counterattack, but a VAR review downgraded it to a yellow.
As the clock wound down on what had seemed an uneventful match, Olympiakos mounted a final offensive, but Pafos held firm, thwarting late efforts from Christos Mouzakitis and Taremi to seal the hosts’ frustration.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
