Champions League: Mourinho’s quest for another winning start

Tottenham Hotspur vs Olympiacos

Jose Mourinho is back in a job.

It didn’t take long for one of the most successful head coaches in modern day football to bag another contract, and this time it’s at ambitious Spurs.

And less than a week after his appointment he takes his bow in the Champions League as the head coach of Tottenham. His new side reached the final of last season’s competition, and it’s a tournament Mourinho loves, having won it twice himself, at Porto and Inter Milan.

The Whites are at SBOBET odds of 13.00 to reach the 2020 final and I wouldn’t put it past Jose making a serious attempt at going deep into this season’s competition.

His first task is to beat Olympiacos on Tuesday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Talking Points

Second chance for Spurs players

Mourinho got off to a winning start as Spurs boss, as his news side won 2-3 against West Ham. It was a first away league win for the Whites since January, and although the Hammers fought back with two late goals it was just the result Spurs fans were dreaming of.

Mourinho himself said that the reason his team won was that the players wanted it so much. Well the cynic in me would ask why they didn’t want it so much a couple of weeks ago? Spurs have had a shocking start to the domestic season, and that saw the end of Mauricio Pochettino, the much admired young Argentine coach.

Dele Alli in particularly has looked a shadow of the player who burst onto the scene a couple of seasons ago, and Jose has already put an arm round his young star’s shoulder. If the England man starts to score then Spurs will have a lethal strike force once more.

Harry Kane features in the Champions League 2019 betting odds as a potential top scorer in the competition, at odds of 13.00. He has four goals already, while fellow striker Heung-Min Son has five.

Son Heung Min are currently sitting on the third spot for Champions League top scorers this season — Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung Min celebrates scoring against West Ham United

We could be about to see a honeymoon period for the new boss, but with Jose Mourinho it is likely to last more than a few weeks.

Gritty Greeks

Tuesday’s fixture is a good test for Spurs. Olympiacos can battle, pushing FC Bayern all the way in a 2-3 reversal at home to the Bundesliga champions, and held out for three quarters of the return match in Germany, before Robert Lewandowski and Ivan Perisic gave the Bavarians a win to take them through to the knockout phase.

Pedro Martin’s side is top of the Greek Super League after 11 games, in a two horse race with PAOK Salonica, who are three points behind them, but with a game in hand.

They come into the clash on the back of a 1-1 draw with Panionios, having dominated the game from start to finish. Pedro Martin’s side had 76 per cent possession and 26 shots on goal but only had a Mathieu Valbuena penalty to show for it, and were punished for their wastefulness in front of goal when their hosts hit them with an 88^th minute sucker punch.

Olympiacos will want to challenge Red Star Belgrade for the third place and a slot in the Europa League, and a result at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will keep them in the hunt. Centre back pairing Ruben Semedo and Yassine Meriah will need to be on their game, while the creative players, including Mo Camara and Guerrero will try to hit Spurs in the break.

History

Olympiacos have been regulars in European competition for decades, reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League in 1999, while they have been dominant on the domestic front as 44 time winners of the Greek Super League.

The two teams have met twice before, a friendly win for the Premier League side back in

2009, and then Spurs threw away a two goal lead when the two teams met in the Group B opener in September. Harry Kane and Lucas Moura had put Spurs in charge before Daniel Podence and former France striker Valbuena pegged them back.

But since that draw, the Greek side has been on a three match losing streak in the competition, while Spurs are unbeaten in four in all competitions.

Betting Tip

	Tottenham Hotspur vs Olympiacos	Tottenham Hotspur First Half @ 1.75
	November 27, 04:00 (GMT+8)

At 1.30 to win, Spurs are strong favourites, while the draw is 5.80 and you can get odds of 7.80 on a Greek win.

The Spurs crowd and players will be right up for this game and I think they will set about Olympiacos from the first whistle.

He’s made a winning start in the league, and if Mourinho can add some positive Champions League 2019 results in the coming months, he is sure to become a popular figure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium pretty quickly!