A determined Olympiacos FC for 60 minutes on Wednesday evening appeared close to posting back-to-back wins over Bayer 04 Leverkusen before forward Patrick Schick struck twice within three minutes (60th and 63rd minutes) to seal the victory for the Bundesliga side in the first leg of the Champions League play off.

The Reds dominated the game in the first half and had their keeper, Konstantinos Tzolakis, in a prime for, yet it was two defensive lapses in the second half that determine the result. in the end.

The Piraeus club will have to muster a major comeback next week in Germany to qualify for the next round, where either Arsenal or Bayern Munich await in the round of 16.

Olympiacos, the Double winners in the Greek league for the 2024-25 season, had beat Leverkusen at the same venue, Karaiskakis Stadium, last month in the group stage, Olympiacos were again impressive but were undone by Schick’s quick-fire brace midway through the second half.

A curling header tucked into Leverkusen’s net, taken from a free kick, by Olympiacos’ leading striker, Ayoub El Kaabi, was ruled offside by inches, during a subsequent VAR check. The goal, had it counted, would have put Olympiacos up by 1-0 with just minutes to play before the end of the first half.

Wednesday’s victory was remarkably Leverkusen’s first away win in the knockout stages of the top European club competition in their history.