Olympiacos 3-1 Burnley: Clarets Set for Uphill Battle in Second Leg After Europa League Defeat

Burnley leave Greece with it all to do on home soil, with their hopes of making the Europa League group stages for the first time in their history hanging by a thread, after falling to a 3-1 defeat against Olympiacos.

After two-legged wins over Aberdeen and Istanbul Basaksehir, the Clarets final qualification round opponents proved much more challenging, as Olympiacos dominated proceedings and may feel they should've finished the leg with more than a two-goal advantage after Ben Gibson was sent off for Sean Dyche's side.

Excellent throughout, Konstantinos Fortounis opened the scoring for the hosts with a beautifully taken free kick past the returning Tom Heaton who had his work cut out after a 12-month absence.

Chris Wood equalised from the spot midway through the first half. While nothing more than a consolation goal on the night, Wood's dispatched penalty gives Burnley hope that they can overturn the deficit, taking an away goal with them back to Turf Moor.

Just a few minutes into the second half, Andreas Bouchalakis restored the 44-time Greek champions' advantage, after Gibson was then dismissed after conceding a penalty on the hour mark. Fortounis confidently converted to give the home side a two-goal lead that they would maintain on a humid evening at the George Karaiskakis Stadium.

Burnley's only shot on goal of the entire game was their first half penalty, while they conceded around two thirds of the possession against Pedro Martins side.

While the away goal and return of Heaton are pluses for Dyche and the Burnley supporters, the performance in Greece gave precious little indication that the deficit can be overturned when the two teams meet again in England next Thursday.