Pompous receptions, fan parades, media hysteria… And huge contracts.One of the worst seasons of Olympiakos in this century, it will be mostly remembered for bringing in loud, but well-served and well-paid names. At the beginning of September, Piraeus was shaking because of the transfer of former Real Madrid stars Marcelo and James Rodriguez.The Brazilian then signed an astronomical contract worth 5,000,000 euros per year, and the Colombian should have received twice as much by the end of the season, with the fact that he was still guaranteed that much by the contract in Qatar’s Al Rayyan, from which he arrived on loan.And when the hysteria and euphoria died down and when the big stars had to live up to the surreal expectations on the field, it turned out that it was not worth the money. More precisely, it is worth almost nothing…##NAJAVA_MECA_7172070##Olympiacos’ season in Europe was disastrous to say the least. In the Champions League qualifiers, they were kicked out by Maccabi last summer, and then they finished the European autumn in the last place in the group stage of the Europa League with only two points won.Even in domestic competitions, they did not do as well as they are used to. The competition is no longer afraid of them and the judges are not as favorable to them as they used to be during the time of absolute dominance. In the derbies against Panathinaikos, AEK and PAOK, Olympiacos recorded only three victories in 12 matches this season. One of those three was in the cup rematch (2-1) but it ment nothing since AEK beat them 3-0 in the first match. In the championship, Olympiacos are currently in third place, as Panathinaikos and AEK are running away by six points each, and the next year’s Conference League is slowly becoming a reality. By the way, three coaches have been changed since the beginning of the season.James Rodriguez:▪️ Sept. 2020: signs two-year contract with Everton▪️ Sept. 2021: leaves Everton, joins Qatari side Al-Rayyan ▪️ Sept. 2022: joins Olympiacos after Al-Rayyan terminates his contract▪️ April 2023: Olympiacos terminates his contract 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/YpHhspL5Ci— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 13, 2023 And those star players?Marcelo left the club after only half a year and collected 2,500,000 euros, collecting only 332 minutes in 10 matches. He returned to his home club Fluminense where he plays for his childhood club. And for 100,000 euros per month.James Rodríguez left Piraeus today, Olympiacos announced. There was a consensual termination of cooperation. He scored five goals in 23 matches in all competitions in the red and white jersey. He mostly excelled in matches against weaker rivals, while he was almost invisible in derbies and only managed to shake PAOK’s net once.When you look at everything and how Olympiacos did their scouting and transfers, it’s no wonder they are looking at a season without a trophy. Their third cupless in the last six years.
