José Luis Mendilibar navigates UEFA registration hurdles to secure Armando González’s place in Olympiacos' Europa League squad list, while shocking exclusions and key retentions reshape the Greek giants’ continental roster for the campaign.
Olympiacos have announced their registered players list for the upcoming UEFA Europa League fixtures. The Greek giants learned about their opponents for the first eight matchdays in the league phase of the competition, and Jose Luis Mendilibar faced a dilemma in choosing his 25-man list for the European clashes.
Sport24.gr editor-in-chief Ilias Kallonas revealed in an X post that Balša Popović, Dani García, Lorenzo Scipioni, Joel Roca, Roman Yaremchuk and Clayton were left out of Mendilibar's list for the Europa League.
We at Olympiacos Roundtable reported on a possible exclusion of Armando 'La Hormiga' Gonzalez from the list due to UEFA's strict rules, which allow a team to register only 17 non-locally trained players. Therefore, the news about the European list confirmed the former Chivas de Guadalajara forward's presence in European competition this season. Olympiacos were facing a depth issue in defence and central midfield, and Gonzalez could have been dropped to accommodate a foreign player in those areas, but Mendilibar have finally found a solution to the problem.
Chiquinho's addition to the squad means that he should stay at the club for now, as talks were going on for his possible departure this summer. However, Scipioni's exclusion is the most notable one, as he has been Olympiacos' midfield maestro for quite some time now. Christos Mouzakitis' departure meant that the Argentine should have been an undisputed member of the European list, but he has now been axed by Mendilibar.
The Spanish coach is expected to continue with his usual 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations. Chiquinho is predicted to start behind Ayoub El Kaabi in a CAM role, while Remo Freuler and Gustavo Puerta should be the two holding midfielders. Nottingham Forest loanee Jota Silva should start on the left wing, and new signing Leon Bailey will be on the right. Meanwhile, Gonzalez is set to continue as a backup option for El Kaabi, but he can be expected to start a few games, especially since the Moroccan striker cannot play at full fitness both in the domestic league and in Europe.
Gelson Martins was also selected by Mendilibar. He was being quoted by a Russian club and was edging closer to an exit. However, this recent developments changes things about his future.
Here is Olympiacos' full 21-man squad list for the Europa League:
Goalkeepers: Stefan Ortega, Dimitrios Stournaras.
Defenders: Manolis Saliakas, Zinedin Smajlovic, Lorenzo Pirola, David Carmo, Panagiotis Retsos, Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, Bruno Onyemaechi, Nair Tiknizyan.
Midfielders: Gustavo Puerta, Leon Bailey, Kostas Fortounis, Gustavo Sa, Gelson Martins, Remo Freuler, Chiquinho, Santiago Hezze.
Forwards: Ayoub El Kaabi, Jota Silva, Armando Gonzalez.
