Takis Lemonis

Olympiakos officially confirmed the sacking of coach Takis Lemonis on Thursday as the Greek champion is said to have reached a deal with Spanish manager Oscar Garcia.

Shortly before the departure of Olympiakos for Barcelona, Takis Lemonis stated that “we are looking forward to this game because it is one of the games you enjoy playing”. However, only yesterday at the official press conference he had said that, “we want to prove that we did not come here just for the joy of the game”.

Gonzalo Higuain came off the bench to open the scoring for Juventus and Mario Mandzukic added a second as the Italian champion beat Olympiakos 2-0 in Turin in their Champions League Group D clash on Wednesday.

Olympiakos Piraeus named Takis Lemonis as coach on Monday in place of Besnik Hasi who left the club after three months in charge following the 3-2 defeat by fierce rival AEK on Sunday.

The Greek champion, who travels to Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League, let a 2-0 lead slip in the Super League match at the Olympic Stadium and is now five points behind league leader AEK.

Former coach of Olympiakos Takis Lemonis will take the helm of the club after the administration sacked coach Besnik Hasi following the champion’s defeat to AEK Athens (3-2) Sunday night. The club issued the following statement: “Olympiakos FC announces the start of its co-operation with coach Takis Lemonis”.

Greek champion Olympiakos Piraeus on Thursday named Besnik Hasi as the club's new coach, the Kosovo Albanian setting an immediate target of reaching the Champions League group stages.

Hasi, 45, signed a two-year-contract with the Super League club after several days of talks, and he replaces previous boss Takis Lemonis.

The regular season of the Super League ended on Sunday, and with Olympiakos already crowned champion and Levadiakos and Veria going down, the only thing left to settle was the points with which PAOK, Panathinaikos, AEK and Panionios would enter the Champions League qualification play-offs. Sunday's victories of PAOK and Panathinaikos gave them extra advantage over the other two teams.

Experienced Greek coach Takis Lemonis has been appointed for a third time as head coach of Olympiakos, the Super League champion said on Thursday.

The 57-year-old, who coached the Piraeus club from 2000-2002 and again from 2006-2008, replaces the sacked Portuguese Paulo Bento, who departed earlier this month after a poor string of results.