Olympiacos overcame Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 to put themselves firmly in the mix for a place in the Champions League knockout stage play-offs.

Defeat for the Greek giants on Tuesday would have all but quashed their hopes of making it through, but Jose Luis Mendilibar's team delivered at Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki.

Costinha put them in front with a powerful header from Rodinei's corner inside two minutes.

And though Leverkusen piled forward in search of an equaliser, Mehdi Taremi – a runner-up with Inter last season – doubled Olympiacos' lead in first-half stoppage time.

Kasper Hjulmand's Leverkusen kept up the pressure after the break, though they only got one of their seven attempts on target.

Olympiacos moved up to 22nd ahead of facing fellow play-off hopefuls Ajax in a crunch clash next week, while Leverkusen – who take on Villarreal in their final league-phase fixture – are a point ahead in 19th place.

Data Debrief: Costinha breaks new ground

Timed at just 92 seconds, Costinha scored Olympiacos' fastest Champions League goal and their earliest in major European competition since a first-minute Luciano Galletti effort in November 2008 against Benfica in a UEFA Cup game.

Leverkusen, meanwhile, conceded in the opening two minutes of a major European match for the first time since November 2015, when BATE Borisov went 1-0 up after just 68 seconds in a Champions League clash.

Taremi made sure of the win. The Iranian has either scored or assisted in each of his last three Champions League appearances (two goals, one assist), his best run since doing so in four in a row in October/November 2022 for Porto. 

Olympiacos scored with both of their shots on target and had just six attempts overall. Leverkusen managed to hit the target six times, yet could not make their 2.37 expected goals count, with home goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis making some impressive stops.