Olympiacos ready for Rivaldo's return

Fresh from reaching the UEFA Champions League's last 16, Olympiacos CFP will hit the top of the Greek Super League on Sunday with a win against leaders AEK Athens FC.

Positive momentum
Currently second, three points behind UEFA Cup contenders AEK, Panagiotis Lemonis's side have the wind in their sails after Tuesday's 3-0 win over Werder Bremen took them into the knockout rounds for the first time this century. However, while they will have home advantage at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium against AEK, the presence of one former star is sure to make their lives difficult.

Rivaldo ready
Now 35, the erstwhile Brazil playmaker Rivaldo left Olympiacos after three seasons to join AEK in the summer. He is eager to face his old team-mates, saying: "Returning to the Karaiskakis will make this occasion special. We always aim to win and that's what we will try to do on Sunday. I have been improving gradually as I get to know my new team-mates."

Impressive statistics
Rivaldo is certainly making progress: he is second only to Olympiacos's Predrag Djordjević in terms of Super League assists this term, with six to the Serbian's seven. AEK have benefited from his presence alright, and with 27 points they have won more league games than any of their rivals (nine) and share the best defensive record with third-placed Panathinaikos FC – four goals conceded in eleven matches.

Injured players
Olympiacos, though, boast impressive statistics of their own. They are the division's 25-goal top scorers and count on Greece's most dangerous forward in nine-goal Darko Kovačević. However, they will be without right-back Christos Patsatzoglou this weekend along with Michalis Konstantinou, Raúl Bravo and Didier Domi. Lorenzo Serra Ferrer's AEK, meanwhile, are missing injured winger Manú.