Olympiacos 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen: Quickfire Schick double secures crucial Champions League win

Patrik Schick’s double helped Bayer Leverkusen defeat Olympiacos 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.

The Leverkusen striker scored twice in the space of three second-half minutes to seal a vital victory on the road, which was also their first-ever away win in the knockout rounds of the competition.

It was an end-to-end first half, with Mehdi Taremi firing wide early on before Konstantinos Tzolakis smothered a close-range attempt from Schick at the other end.

The hosts thought they took the lead shortly before the break, but Ayoub El Kaabi’s header was diverted in off Taremi, who was in an offside position, which came shortly after Ibrahim Maza saw an attempt palmed onto the crossbar.

Leverkusen’s breakthrough then came on the hour mark, with Ernest Poku playing Schick through on the goal, and the striker evaded a challenge from Giulian Biancone before finding the bottom-left corner.

And 144 seconds later, it was 2-0. The visitors won a corner, and Alejandro Grimaldo’s in-swinging delivery was flicked beyond the defenders on the line by Schick as the home fans were left stunned.

2 – Patrik Schick is the second player to score twice for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in a UEFA Champions League knockout match, after Michael @Ballack in the 2001-02 quarter-final second leg against Liverpool (also 2). Relief. pic.twitter.com/EVwWNNmXya

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) February 18, 2026

Data Debrief: Schick the man of the moment

Although Leverkusen recorded fewer shots in the match (eight to Olympiacos’ 13), they created the better opportunities. The Bundesliga outfit accumulated 1.95 expected goals (xG) to the hosts’ 0.87.

Schick has now scored four goals in his last six Champions League matches, three more than he managed across his first 28 appearances in the competition (one).

He is also the second player to score twice for Leverkusen in a Champions League knockout match, after Michael Ballack in the 2001-02 quarter-final second leg against Liverpool.