UEFA Champions League Playoff First Legs continue — Miller picks Olympiakos Piraeus vs Omonia Nicosia

For casual fans of the UEFA Champions League, or for most bettors, the tournament usually brings to mind the usual suspects when thinking about the teams involved.

Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Ajax, on and on.

But for many teams around Europe, it is just about getting into the group stages of either the Champions League or Europa league, both of which can be incredibly lucrative to smaller sides.

You may not know some of those sides, although if you have followed Bettors Insider for the last 18 months, I have probably written about them at some point.

However, there are many people today asking the same question: who the hell is Omonia Nicosia?

The Cypriot side won the title last season, and has made its way from the first round of qualification all the way to the last step before the group stage: the two-legged playoffs.

And guess who Omonia got in the draw? A Greek side, Olympiakos Piraeus. If you are not up on Mediterranean affairs, the Greek and Turkish factions of Nicosia are largely split in the city. I could write a whole dissertation on the subject, but we are here for the football.

While APOEL Nicosia is playing tomorrow in the Europa League Playoffs, Omonia is going to try to qualify for the Champions League Group Stage (since the format was changed) for the first time in its history.

I don’t think they will win today, though; Olympiakos knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League last season, and is probably the better side. The main question becomes, can Omonia stay in the tie?

Check Fubo.tv for channel listings

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFFS QUALIFICATION

Olympiakos Piraeus (-250) vs. Omonia Nicosia (+700), draw (+335), 3 p.m. EDT

(Check CBS All-Access for game listed)

THE PICKS:

Olympiakos -1.25 Asian handicap (+100)

Over 2.25 goals Asian handicap (-125)