Olympiakos 0-1 Manchester City: Champions League – as it happened

Jamie Jackson’s verdict is in. Thanks for reading this MBM.

Pep on Diego. “There are a few incredible players in history, and he is one of them. He was something that makes sport better. What he has done in world football is incredible. It is difficult to find a person or player who loved this game more than him. It is sad news for the world of football.”

Pep on the match. “We played incredibly well. Unfortunately we couldn’t score more goals, but I don’t know how many shots on target we took. We played really well in all departments. We are already in the next round and now we can focus on the Premier League and other competitions. A big compliment for the team.”

The match-winner Phil Foden speaks. “Fair play to them, they came out fighting in the second half and made it hard for us. We did well to dig in and get the result. Raheem is a great player in those areas, and somehow he saw me and pulled the backheel off. Thanks for the assist!” He’s then informed that City never lose when he scores. “Is that true?! Well, it’s good then, innit.”

90 min +2: Cisse goes up with Dias and gives the City man a good old clatter. Dias takes the opportunity to stay down for a bit, in the classic clock-management style.

90 min +1: Camara crosses from the right. Cisse wins a header at the far post but can only send his effort high and wide.

90 min: There will be four added minutes.

88 min: Rafinha drives down the left. His cross is blocked and only half cleared by Fernandinho. From the left of the D, Fortounis traps, flicks and volleys wide right. The hosts have left this very late.

86 min: Gundogan is booked for a cynical tug on Fortounis and immediately replaced by young Thomas Doyle.

84 min: Semedo looks for Fortounis down the right. He belts the ball deep into the stand behind the goal. That is dismal, though Olympiacos are trying to launch the odd sortie now. They’ve taken their time.

82 min: A little space for Soudani out on the right. He drops a shoulder and moves infield, taking a shot as he enters the box. It’s blocked, and the flag goes up for offside. But at least that’s something from Olympiacos. Does it qualify as an attempt at goal? Probably not.

81 min: Sigh.

79 min: This match is in danger of grinding to a complete standstill.

78 min: Jesus and Mendy make way for Aguero and Zinchenko, while the hosts swap Masouras for Soudani.

76 min: Mahrez and Fernandinho come on for Sterling and Rodri.

75 min: Sterling and Foden combine down the inside-right channel to find Silva on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Silva dribbles a weak shot across the face of goal and out for a goal kick.

73 min: Fortounis crosses from the right. Masouras goes up for a header, but can’t connect. Stones sashays off with the ball, and there goes a great chance for Olympiacos’s first attempt on target!

72 min: Pepe makes way for Bouchalakis.

71 min: Cancelo dribbles exotically down the right then dinks to the far post, where Foden slaps a header wide. A good chance and a poor header.

70 min: To be fair, Olympiacos are missing quite a few players through injury and Covid.

68 min: The hosts are achieving absolutely nothing. No wonder: they’re trying very little and taking few risks. This is painful viewing.

66 min: The first change of the evening, as Drager is replaced by Vrousai.

65 min: A second goal is coming soon, surely. Sterling bustles down the inside right and fires a low cross towards Silva. After some high-octane pinball, Silva tries to flip home from six yards. His effort is straight at Sa, who gathers gratefully.

64 min: Cancelo bursts into the box down the middle, flicked in cutely by Rodri, but blasts his shot straight at Sa.

63 min: Sterling slips a ball into the box for Jesus, who goes over when chasing it. He claims Semedo fouled him, and indeed there’s a light tug on his arm, but neither referee nor VAR are interested. It would have been a soft one, but you’ve seen them given.

62 min: That was City’s 18th attempt on goal, and their ninth on target. Olympiacos’s totals: zero and zero. They have been little short of appalling, a complete non-event.

61 min: ... Cancelo has a whack through a crowded box. Sa gathers without fuss or drama.

60 min: Mendy bursts down the left. His dangerous low cross somehow evades Sterling and Jesus in the middle. City come again, Jesus working his way down the right and earning a corner. From which ...

59 min: See 57 min.

57 min: City are looking for the second goal that would surely seal the deal, but not with any manic urgency. They’re in control, and little is happening.

55 min: Cancelo shoots. The ball takes a huge deflecetion off Jesus, and nearly bobbles into the bottom right, past the wrong-footed Sa. But the ball goes wide of the post, and Jesus was offside anyway.

54 min: Dias is booked for giving Drager a cynical shove on the back of the head, ‘accidentally’ brushing past him as the Olympiacos man prepares to take a throw. He pleads his innocence to no avail.

53 min: Mendy tries his luck from a great distance. Nope.

52 min: Ba clips Foden out on the left. Foden takes the free kick. With a pleasing narrative purity, Ba heads it clear.

50 min: Camara gives away possession in his own box. Foden has a crack but his effort is blocked. The ball breaks to Gundogan, who has time to open his body and sidefoot powerfully towards the top right. He should hit the target from the edge of the area, but slaps the ball wide right. A huge chance.

49 min: Silva glides in from the right and takes a pop. It’s easily gathered by Sa, and Silva would probably have been better laying off to Sterling, in space on the penalty spot to his left.

48 min: City stroke it around casually. No need to fuss and fret, they’ve qualified for the knockout phase as things stand.

46 min: Gundogan comes through the back of Camara. No yellow. Camara isn’t happy about it. So much for everyone calming down.

Olympiacos get the second half underway. No changes.

Half-time entertainment. Here’s our man Rob Smyth on the late, great Diego Maradona, taking on the entire world at Italia 90.

45 min +1: Sterling whips a wonderful free kick over the wall and towards the top left. Sa does extremely well to stick out a strong arm and tip out for a corner.

45 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Stones and Ba start a shoving match. Play nicely, now.

44 min: Sterling has a shot. Sa parries. City come again through Mendy down the left. Ba takes him down. A free kick just to the left of the D. Can City double their lead just before the break?

43 min: Sterling attempts to dribble his way through the middle. If he goes down, under a couple of flailing challenges, he’s getting a free kick on the edge of the D. But he scrabbles to stay up, and eventually loses possession.

41 min: Tempers are fraying, though. Camara comes through the back of Sterling, who momentarily contemplates throwing hands but wisely gathers himself in time. Rafinha comes across again to have his say, but it all calms down quickly enough. The resulting free kick is hoicked into the box and dealt with easily by Sa.

39 min: Cisse and Sterling tussle for the ball. It’s a hard but fair battle. Then Rafinha comes over to join in, whereupon he and Sterling shove each other in the playground style. Both are booked for their nonsense.

38 min: A suggestion that Rodri had slapped Drager in the mush during the build-up to the goal. It looked accidental, though you’ve seen fouls given for less.

35 min: Pepe threatens to dribble into space in the centre circle. Gundogan has two nibbles at his ankles and takes him down. He’s slightly fortunate not to go into the book, as Pepe had a couple of options ahead of him with City again light at the back.

33 min: Some space for Cancelo on the right. He wallops hard towards the near post, but again the keeper handles well. Sa has grown in confidence after a slightly underwhelming start.

31 min: Silva slips a ball down the inside-left channel for Jesus. Camara stops and holds his hand up, claiming offside. But Jesus isn’t, and he dribbles into the box. Sa gets his team-mate out of trouble with a fine block.

30 min: Gundogan plays a quick pass forward down the left, releasing Jesus into space. He drives at the Olympiacos defence then plays a square ball that’s toe-poked back upfield by a defender. Stones tries another quick pass, but his drill down the right flies harmlessly out of play for a goal kick.

29 min: Rodri goes down after crashing into Camara’s shoulder. That will have hurt a lot, a proper crack across the bridge of the nose. After a bit of treatment, he’s up and about, shaking his head in the pained style. No claret, and he’s good to continue.

27 min: Ba clips Jesus and it’s a free kick just to the left of centre, 35 yards out. Foden curls it in. Dias rises, six yards out, but the ball sails an inch or so over his head. Nearly.

25 min: Camara robs a complacent Foden and drives forward. He’s got options either side but the move immediately breaks down. Once again, though, City looked a bit vulnerable with that high line. A better pass, and there was trouble at mill.

23 min: Gundogan passes the ball straight out of play. City have suddenly lost a little momentum.

21 min: Olympiacos string a few passes together. They don’t go anywhere, but that’s not really the point: for the first time in the match, they’ve had a decent period of possession. Baby steps.

19 min: Dias strokes long, hoping to release Jesus down the middle. Cisse reads the play well and heads clear, just in the nick of time.

17 min: Rodri slams the ball straight into Pepe’s coupon. Pepe goes down, in order to grab a breather as much as anything else. Olympiacos are being pulled around all over the shop.

16 min: Ba tries to blast the ball upfield, but falls over and lets it run out of play for a corner instead. Nothing comes of it, but dear me. This is not a confident start by the hosts. A City opener will surely come sooner rather than later.

15 min: Foden is allowed to make smooth progress along the inside-left channel. He eventually reaches the area before fizzing a low diagonal shot inches wide of the right-hand post. Sa might have had that covered, he might not. This is all City, with Olympiacos struggling to get out of their final third.

13 min: Mendy forces a corner out on the left. From the set piece, Foden and Jesus take turns to fail to get sufficient purchase on a header from six yards. Semedo eventually hacks clear.

12 min: Fortounis scampers after a long ball down the middle. He’s caught offside, but there’s the old City high line that was exploited so efficiently by Spurs at the weekend. A better-timed run by the Olympiacos captain and City were in trouble.

10 min: Silva jigs down the left and whips a sudden cross into the box. Jesus attempts to flash a header across Sa and into the right-hand side of goal, but sends it straight at the keeper.

9 min: Foden spins his way into space down the inside-left channel and shoots from a tight angle. Sa gathers at his near post.

8 min: Sa shanks a dismal clearance straight at Jesus, who tries to find Foden on the left-hand side of the six-yard box with an instant crossfield pass. Not quite.

6 min: Sterling tries to open the hosts up with a crisp one-two on the edge of the Olympiacos box. He can’t get through. He thinks he’s been illegally checked, but the referee isn’t interested.

5 min: City are enjoying the bulk of possession in these early stages, as they so often do.

3 min: Mendy crosses from the left. Semedo clears. Rodri latches onto the dropping ball and belts a screamer goalwards. It’s hit hard enough to rip the net, and perhaps take the frame of the goal with it, but keeper Sa bravely gets in the way. Lucky he parried that with his gloves, because that could have taken his head off. What a blooter!

2 min: A quiet start to the match. Both teams take turns to string a few passes together and get a touch of the ball.

The show must go on, and so City get the game started. The players take a knee. Black lives matter. There’s no room for racism. And then the ball starts rolling.

Before kick-off, a minute’s silence in memory of Diego Armando Maradona (1960-2020). Adiós Diego, gracias por todo.

The teams are out. Olympiacos wear their first-choice red and white stripes, while City sport second-choice black. A blast of the Champions League anthem, and we’ll be off in a couple of minutes.

Pep Guardiola talks to BT Sport. “It’s a new game with new players. Everyone is ready. Sterling is ready to go. Aguero is not ready for 90 minutes, one step at a time. I have some ideas, but the game dictates substitutions. Walker and De Bruyne are fatigued, many games, mental fatigue. They were a little bit tired. Now we have players back it’s good for them to take a week off.”

The interview was recorded before the news of Maradona’s passing broke.

Christian Karembeu is currently strategic advisor at Olympiacos, and he’s been talking to BT Sport. “We are deeply sad. Our thoughts to the family. Diego is a legend, and we will always remember his spirit and talent. Diego was incredible. We will miss him a lot, we regret his loss. He was unique, he developed his skills as a child and when he became a professional player he never changed himself. He is a galactico.”

Also a little bit about tonight’s match: “We are third in the competition. We will try to fight to gain points. Our people need to understand this competition, and we need to demonstrate it on the pitch.”

A lovely anecdote from Owen Hargreaves on BT Sport. “My first game in professional football was Lothar Matthaus’s testimonial. Diego was supposed to play, but it was late in the day, five minutes before the game, he wasn’t there. So we thought somebody else would have to step in. And then Diego came in the dressing room, got changed, got his gear on real quick, put his Puma Kings on, still untied, had an espresso as he walked out juggling the ball onto the pitch, and everybody was like: Diego Maradona is here! We looked at him as though he wasn’t real. He was larger than life.”

RIP Diego.

Pep Guardiola makes five changes to the team named for the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham. John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Benjamin Mendy, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling - today’s captain - step up. Ferran Torres, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez drop to the bench, while Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne miss out altogether.