An historic but redeveloped stadium and new opposition - penty for club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton to get their teeth into.

Rick begins from a natural starting point nearly 40 years ago.

Chelsea have only visited Greece competitively twice. The first was a trip to Salonika to play Aris FC in September 1970.

The King's Road Swingers earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw following a missed Peter Osgood penalty, a sending-off for centre-back John Dempsey and a volleyed Ian Hutchinson equaliser. Before they departed, Aris president Nikos Kambanis was full of praise - and prescience. 'Chelsea played so well,' he said, 'that we are certain we shall see you in Greece again this season - for the final in Athens in May.'

Kambanis was right, Chelsea returned the following spring. Drawing 1-1 with Real Madrid, the Blues won the replay two days later 2-1. The venue that night, 21 May 1971, was the same one this evening, the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium. It all has a nice ring of familiarity about it. All we need is for an influential Muscovite to predict we will be there in Russia in three months' time.

Olympiacos Sports Club of Piraeus have redeveloped their home stadium since those days, and it reopened, facing a different direction and all-seater, for the 2004 Olympic Games. The new stadium, originally named after a hero of the Greeks' fight for independence (1821-9) who was fatally wounded in the area, also honours the dead of the disaster of 1981, when 21 supporters were killed leaving the ground. A block of black seats among the red forms the number seven, remembering those who lost their lives at that exit gate.

Piraeus, once a small coastal harbour, emerged as Greece's second city and became one of Europe's largest ports, but has been absorbed into the wider conurbation of Athens in recent years and is a stop on the Metro. Don't tell the locals Piraeus is just a suburb of the capital though: when their team beats a big city rivals such as AEK or Panathinaikos away, Olympiacos fans like to march the ten miles or so back to the coast, singing and marking out their territory along the way.

A first half strike (after his penalty was saved) from shaven-headed Predrag Djordjevic last Saturday against Ergotelis brought their most recent joy. An under strength Olympiacos made hard work of seeing off the Super League whipping boys, but following on from their more impressive 4-0 away win at mid-table Panioni, it placed them top of the tree, and hopeful of yet another championship triumph. Manager Panagiotis Lemonis, though, was left bemoaning his side's lack of firepower.

Their one-point lead at the summit might have been temporary. But the three days of constant snow that have hampered the match preparations of Chelsea and our supporters also put paid to the fixtures of second-placed Panathinaikos and others.

Oddly enough, since being hit by its first blizzard for 15 years in 2002 Athens, has had snow virtually every year. Still, when travelling Blues fans were picturing themselves at the Parthenon, they surely didn't think to pack skis.

The phenomenon that adds a new string to the Athens tourist board's bow - 'Snowboard down the Acropolis!' - may spell an uncomfortable time for the home side. Chelsea, with campaign badges from Trømso and Trondheim are battle-hardened against the cold stuff. Gloveless John Terry is bound to wear a short-sleeved shirt and no vest.

Olympiacos qualified for the knockout phase by finishing second, level on points with Real Madrid, in what was initially considered a nightmare group also featuring Bremen and Lazio.

But the German and Italian challenges collapsed and the Greeks, who had not reached the Round of 16 for nine years, won their first-ever away game in the Champions League 3-1 at Bremen's Weserstadion. The Germans were seen off 3-0 at the Karaiskakis.

Olympiacos also drew 0-0 at home with Real, though they were outplayed in a 4-2 win for the Spaniards at the Bernabéu.

The Greeks have several players who can cause trouble, and some known to English football. Long-serving left-footed midfielder Djordjevic, one of two Serbia internationals in the Greek team (the other being Darko Kovacevic, with whom he links superbly), will make his 75th Uefa appearance tonight and is the playmaker of the Olympiacos team, as well as penalty taker and 18-yard sharp-shooter.

Kovacevic, 34, is the current Super League top scorer. Those with a stronger memory may recall his brief spell at Sheffield Wednesday between December 1996 and May 1996, where he managed four goals in 16 games.

Two of Olympiacos's side will be familiar through their Newcastle United connections. Congolese striker Lomano LuaLua, now 27, played at St James' as well as Portsmouth, and full-back Didier Domi made his debut for the Toon as a wing-back against Chelsea in January 1999, a 1-0 win for the Blues courtesy of Dan Petrescu.

Discipline might be an issue for the Greeks. Chelsea have the fewest yellow cards among the last 16 clubs, having received just three (two to Michael Essien); Olympiacos, with 15 yellow cards, the worst.

It is on collective endeavour, sound defensive organisation and rapid counter attacks that the Piraeus side has based its current success, but they do make errors and they do concede goals. Their manager has emphasised the need to minimise cock-ups but convert rare chances if the underdogs are to have any chance of progressing.

The pattern in previous years for Olympiacos has been excellent home form but trouble on their travels, so it is handy for Chelsea that group winners host the second, decisive leg.

Like London, Athens has not yet produced a European Cup winner, but Chelsea are looking to reach the quarter-finals of this competition for the fourth time in five years. On each occasion we have reached the semis too, but gone no further.

With so many absentees in previous weeks making their way back to Avram Grant's selection roster, the Blues will be confident of overcoming this hurdle to make the quarter-final draw, at which point teams can face same-nation opposition.

Fit-again Michael Ballack and January signing Nicolas Anelka have been added to the squad of 23 at the expense of Steve Sidwell and Claudio Pizarro, both of whom were vital to sustaining the four-front challenge during January.

Importantly, the weekend FA Cup win over League One side Huddersfield Town allowed the Israeli manager to rest some key players while others - notably goal centurion Frank Lampard and skipper John Terry - showed their readiness for action again, just at the right time.

All of which will hopefully make this a wonderfully sentimental and successful return for the Blues fans who were there in the Karaiskakis 37 years ago.


OLYMPIACOS V CHELSEA - Paul Dutton with the Athens analysis.

Although Chelsea have never met Olympiacos before we are returning to the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus where we won the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup against Real Madrid. The stadium has been completely rebuilt and now has an all-seater capacity of 33,500. Our crowds 37 years ago were 45,000 and, for the replay two days later, 24,000.

The only other visit to Greece ever made by Chelsea was earlier in that same season when we drew 1-1 in the first round first leg against Aris Salonika. 50,000 fanatical Greeks saw Peter Osgood miss a penalty, John Dempsey get his marching orders and a magnificent Ian Hutchinson volleyed equaliser.

Olympiacos's home record against English clubs is:
1965/66 Cup Winners' Cup last 16 - West Ham D 2-2
1972/73 UEFA Cup 2nd round - Tottenham W 1-0
2000/01 UEFA Cup 3rd round - Liverpool D 2-2
2001/02 Champions League group - Man Utd L 0-2
2002/03 Champions League group - Man Utd L 2-3
2004/05 Champions League group - Liverpool W 1-0
2004/05 UEFA Cup last 16 - Newcastle L 1-3

Olympiacos's last five years in Europe
2002/03 Champions League - first group stage
2003/04 Champions League - group stage
2004/05 Champions League - group stage, UEFA Cup - round of 16
2005/06 Champions League - group stage
2006/07 Champions League - group stage

No club from Greece has yet won a major European prize with Olympiacos still to reach the last four of either the Champions League or UEFA Cup.

Their best showing in the Champions League was when they reached the 1998/99 quarter-finals before losing to Juventus. Olympiacos have qualified for the group stage for 11 seasons in a row.

Olympiacos's European Cup record is played 100, won 29, drawn 24, lost 47.

In domestic competition they won the Hellenic Super League title for the third straight season in 2006/07 and the 10th time in the last 11 campaigns. Since their formation in 1925 they have won 35 league titles and 22 national cups.

Olympiacos are undefeated at home in all competitions for just under a year and 16 games, winning 13 games and drawing three.

Olympiacos have won five of their last seven games since the New Year, with one draw and one defeat against second-from-bottom Kalamarias. However, Olympiacos appealed to the Greek Super League following the game after discovering that Austrian striker Roman Wallner had already this season made appearances with two different clubs, Scottish sides Falkirk and Hamilton, contrary to FIFA regulations. As a result, the match will now be replayed at a later date.

Olympiacos's last six domestic games
Jan 16 Panathinaikos (Cup 5 h) W 4-0
Jan 20 OFI Crete (a) W 1-0
Jan 27 Aris Salonika (h) W 1-0
Feb 3 Apollon Kalamarias (a) L 0-1
Feb 10 Panionios (a) W 4-0
Feb 16 Ergotelis (h) W 1-0

Olympiacos went top of the Hellenic Super League after Saturday evening's 1-0 win over Ergotelis. Predrag Djordjevic scored the only goal after 27 minutes. Team Nikopolidis; Patsatzoglou (Torosidis h/t), Leonardo, César, Zewlakow; Stoltidis, Ledesma, Belluschi (Nunez 62), Galletti (Pantos 80); Djordjevic, Kovacevic.

Olympiacos entered this seasons Champions League at the group stage. They finished second in Group C but level on 11 points with Real Madrid with Bremen third on six and Lazio last with five.

Group C results
Sep 18 Lazio (h) D 1-1
Oct 3 Werder Bremen (a) W 3-1
Oct 24 Real Madrid (a) L 2-4
Nov 6 Real Madrid (h) D 0-0
Nov 28 Lazio (a) W 2-1
Dec 11 Werder Bremen (h) W 3-0

Appearances Galletti 6, Nikopolidis 6, LuaLua 6, Patsatzoglou 6, Stoltidis 6, Antzas 5, Djordjevic 5, Ledesma 5, Torosidis 5, Zewlakow 4+1, Pantos 3+1, Bravo 3, Kovacevic 2+4, César 2+1, Domi 2, Mendrinos 0+3, Mitroglou 0+2, Nunez 0+2, Archubi 0+1, Konstantinou 0+1.

Goals Galletti 3, Kovacevic 3, Stoltidis 3, César 1, Patsatzoglou 1.

Olympiacos have played 30 games in all competitions winning 20, losing three and drawing seven. They have scored 56 goals, conceded 22, have kept 14 clean sheets and failed to score five times.

Chelsea's overall record in European competition is played 136, won 73, drawn 35, lost 28. This is our eleventh season in succession in Europe.

Chelsea are unbeaten in 15 (12 wins and three draws) since our defeat at the Emirates before Christmas.

Chelsea have been beaten twice (to Man Utd and Arsenal away) in 33 games in all competitions under Avram Grant in a run that has seen 24 wins and 21 clean sheets.

We are unbeaten in the last 52 games in all competitions when scoring the opening goal - 48 wins, four draws. The last occasion was at Tottenham in November 2006.

In our sixth appearance in the Champions League, we maintained our record of always qualifying for the knockout rounds and for the fifth time in six attempts finished as group winners. We were semi-finalists in 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2006/07, quarter-finalists in 1999/2000 and reached the last 16 in 2005/06.

Our Champions League results are as follows:
Sep 18 Rosenborg (h) D 1-1
Oct 3 Valencia (a) W 2-1
Oct 24 Schalke (h) W 2-0
Nov 6 Schalke (a) D 0-0
Nov 28 Rosenborg (a) W 4-0
Dec 11 Valencia (h) D 0-0

Appearances Essien 6, J Cole 5+1, Makelele 5+1, Cech 5, Alex 4+1, Drogba 4, Lampard 4, Malouda 4, Terry 4, Belletti 3+1, Bridge 3, Carvalho 3, A Cole 3, Ferreira 3, Kalou 2+3, Shevchenko 2+2, Wright-Phillips 2+2, Mikel 1+2, Ben-Haim 1+1, Cudicini 1+1, Pizarro 1+1, Sidwell 0+1.

Goals Drogba 4, J Cole 2, Alex 1, Malouda 1, Shevchenko 1

Chelsea have played 41 games in all competitions. We have won 27, drawn 11 and lost three. We have scored 67 goals, conceded 26, have kept 23 clean sheets and failed to score on eight occasions.

Chelsea have won four (Levski Sofia, Valencia twice and Rosenborg) and lost two (Werder Bremen and Liverpool) of our last 10 away Champions League games. The draws were against Barcelona twice, Porto and Schalke.

Chelsea have played 64 games in the Champions League proper (excluding qualifying games). We have won 32, drawn 18 and lost 14.

Uefa club competition all time top scorers Filippo Inzaghi (Parma, Juventus, AC Milan) 64, Gerd Muller (Bayern Munich) 62, Raul (Real Madrid) 61, Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan, Chelsea) 60, Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV, Man Utd, Real Madrid) 57, Eusebio (Benfica) 56.

European Cup / UEFA Champions League all time top scorers Raul (Real Madrid) 59, Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV, Man Utd, Real Madrid) 57, Andriy Shevchenko (Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan, Chelsea) 56, Alfredo Di Stefano (Real Madrid) 49, Eusebio (Benfica) 47.

The referee is Konrad Plautz, who has never previously officiated a Chelsea match. He and his assistants are from Austria.

There are no suspensions on either side. Michael Essien has been booked twice and is one yellow card away from a one match European ban. We have collected just three yellow cards to date, the lowest in the competition.

Olympiacos have received 15 bookings and one red - the most of any other club in the group stage. Paraskevas Antzas, Cristian Ledesma and Christos Patsatzoglou are all one yellow card away from a ban.