Mendilibar Points To Squad Building For Champions League Failure
- Thrylos 7 Intl Team
- 39 minutes ago
- 4 min read
There would have been an easy way for José Luis Mendilibar to explain Olympiacos’ elimination. Point to the red card, point to playing extra time with ten men, point to an unpredictable qualifying tie in August.
He certainly acknowledged those circumstances.
But the more consequential part of his first post-match interview came when the conversation moved beyond NEC. Mendilibar spoke about the instability of modern squad building during preseason and then said Olympiacos must see which players they actually have before determining what they can do with the group.
That deserves attention, because Olympiacos’ Champions League campaign may be finished, but their summer clearly is not.
Mendilibar did not pretend the performance was good enough
His diagnosis of Nijmegen was relatively straightforward. Olympiacos did not impose themselves properly in the first half. They scored after the interval and believed they had placed the match in a manageable position.
Then came NEC’s equalizer, then Fortounis’ dismissal.
From that point onward Olympiacos were forced into survival mode and eventually conceded in extra time.
There was no attempt to construct the elimination entirely around external circumstances.
The red card hurt Olympiacos badly, but the team had already allowed NEC back into the tie.
Then Mendilibar broadened the issue
His comments about preseason were revealing. Mendilibar noted the strange reality of the modern transfer calendar: players complete preseason and then leave; replacements arrive without having gone through the same preparation.
Olympiacos are living that problem in real time.
The team that began preparing in July is not the team that will exist in September and the group that faced NEC almost certainly should not be treated as the final version of Olympiacos.
It does not excuse elimination, it helps explain why the next three weeks may become unusually important.
The midfield market now becomes even more urgent
Olympiacos have already been working simultaneously on several midfield profiles.
Noah Cadiou.
Cristian Cásseres Jr.
Other alternatives remain in circulation.
The NEC tie provided a useful competitive diagnosis. Olympiacos need players capable of helping the team maintain pressure without becoming exposed when that pressure breaks.
Hezze improves that enormously, but one player cannot solve the entire structure. That is why the type of midfielder Olympiacos buy matters as much as simply buying another midfielder.
If Mendilibar wants to keep Rodinei aggressive, use attacking wingers and commit players around El Kaabi, the midfield behind them must cover enormous territory. Recruitment should reflect that.
The left-back question also remains unresolved
Olympiacos continue to have an unresolved decision around the left side.
Anass Salah-Eddine has been pursued.
Nair Tiknizyan has been pursued.
The club clearly appears interested in a more proactive full-back profile than simply adding defensive depth.
That makes tactical sense. But after the NEC tie, the defensive consequences of aggressive full-back positioning are equally obvious.
Olympiacos need players who can contribute forward without turning every turnover into an emergency.
That is another reason the final roster matters.
The Champions League money is gone, but the European season remains serious
Olympiacos now move directly into the Europa League league phase.
And there is an important piece of new context: they will be Pot 1 in the August 28 draw. Normally, supporters hear “Pot 1” and assume easier opposition. The new format makes that less valuable than it once was.
Olympiacos will still face two clubs from every pot, including Pot 1 itself. Gazzetta’s current qualified list includes Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Milan among the high-coefficient teams already guaranteed places. So the Europa League should not be interpreted as eight comfortable matches.
The competition can produce extremely difficult fixtures.
The schedule gives Olympiacos time
There is one major advantage. The league phase does not begin until September 16–17, with the draw taking place August 28. That gives Mendilibar something he did not have before NEC:
time.
Olympiacos no longer need to prepare for another Champions League qualifying round next week.
They can train. They can integrate Gustavo Sá. They can continue getting Hezze fully match fit. They can establish Fortounis’ role and Moncada can finish the squad without the immediate pressure of another European knockout match.
That could prove extremely valuable.
But Europa League qualification should not reduce ambition in the market
There is an obvious financial argument for becoming cautious now. Champions League revenue will not arrive.
That should influence valuation discipline. It should not necessarily result in abandoning reinforcement.
Olympiacos still have three serious competitive objectives:
the Greek championship;
the Greek Cup;
and a Europa League campaign in which their coefficient places them among the competition’s higher-ranked clubs.
If anything, the NEC tie clarified where investment is needed. The wrong response would be emotional overspending after elimination. The equally wrong response would be deciding the existing squad is automatically sufficient because Champions League qualification failed.
Mendilibar’s sentence is therefore worth remembering
“We have to see which players will be ours.” That is essentially where Olympiacos are now.
The Champions League chapter ended in Nijmegen. The squad-building chapter did not. And perhaps the most important question of August is no longer who Olympiacos could have faced in the Champions League playoff.
It is which version of Olympiacos will walk onto the pitch when the Europa League begins in September.
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