Is Armando 'Hormiga' Gonzalez Playing Today for Olympiacos vs. Panathinaikos?

The Derby of the Eternal Enemies takes centre stage tonight (Sunday, 11 October 2026) at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus as Olympiacos face rivals Panathinaikos in Matchday 6 of the Super League Greece. 

After a lengthy international break, Olympiacos are finally back in action, and the big question on the minds of the club's Mexican fans is whether Armando 'La Hormiga' Gonzalez will start. The former Chivas de Guadalajara man has gained rapid fame in Greece after his summer move, as fans saw him score his first European goal for the club this season and in his career, while impressing both Jose Luis Mendilibar and current manager Imanol Alguacil. 

Olympiacos are carefully training and managing their players this season, especially after the horrific injury to Ayoub El Kaabi, who will be out for the season. The Moroccan's injury leaves Alguacil with Armando Gonzalez and Roman Yaremchuk as the natural strikers in the team, while Clayton Silva remains a distant third in the pecking order. 

Fortunately, Gonzalez came away unscathed from the international break in which Mexico featured in four friendlies against Colombia, Peru, the United States of America, and Chile. Therefore, he is fully fit to start the derby against Panathinaikos tonight. 

He was left as an unused substitute by Rafael Márquez in the friendly against Peru. He started against Colombia, playing 73 minutes. He was subbed on and played a minor role against the USA, and started the match against Chile, but was subbed off in a major second-half reshuffle. 

While Gonzalez found himself starting on the bench in Olympiacos' final match ahead of the international break against Levadiakos, he is expected to start in the derby due to the nature of the clinical prowess he brings upfront. Yaremchuk remains his only competitor for the starting spot in the line-up, but the Ukrainian is predicted to be on the bench as Alguacil will require fully motivated personnel in his attacking lines. 

Olympiacos are five points away from Panathinaikos in the league standings, and if they want to gather momentum for the rest of the season to challenge for the title, it is absolutely non-negotiable for the club to triumph in these kinds of clashes. It will certainly be an epic morale booster for the squad should they grab the three points against their eternal rivals. 

All eyes will be on Gonzalez as Olympiacos fans bet on him to help them sail past Jacob Neestrup's men.