Familiar faces for Dier in Athens

Athens - a hub of learning in the ancient world and the home of Plato’s Academy - will be host to a modern-day academy reunion of a different kind on Wednesday evening.

We head to the Greek capital to kick-off our Champions League campaign against Olympiacos in our first group stage game (kick-off 5.55pm UK) but, for Eric Dier, the encounter in the classical city will also be an opportunity to catch up with some old friends.

Among the Greek side’s roster are two of the defensive-minded midfielder’s former Sporting CP team-mates – defender Ruben Semedo and forward Daniel Podence.

Eric and Semedo came through Sporting’s academy together in 2012 while Podence progressed through the Portuguese side’s youth system the following year, before linking up with our number 15 in their B side and later in the first team. Shortly afterwards, the group split as the England international moved to London, while his friends remained on the continent.

There has been little in terms of reunions since between the trio but with both Semedo and Podence now Olympiacos players, that will all change come Wednesday night.

“They are two players that I know very well from my time at Sporting,” Eric explained. “And more so Ruben (Semedo), because we are the same age and we played together for a long, long time, all the way from our early days there to the first team.

“He is defensive-minded, playing at centre-back or the base of midfield, but he has a lot of ability on the ball as well. We are very similar in that sense, that we both play in that defensive midfield role or at centre-back and we also broke into the first team at around the same time, at the same age. We played together in Portugal for maybe 10 years, so it’ll be good to see him again.

“Daniel (Podence) was a year below me so we didn’t really play that much together. He is a winger, so a very different player compared to Ruben. He is quite small but very sharp, technically very good and moves well with the ball, but without doubt they are both players with a lot of quality.

“I think I’ve seen Ruben once since we left Sporting, but this might be the first time I’ve seen both of them since I left to join Spurs.”

The Champions League is a competition that is full of challenges - that has been made clear to us throughout our previous campaigns in Europe and none more so than last season, when we had to battle back from the brink on multiple occasions to ultimately progress to the final.

Our trip to Greece will be another test on the European stage for us but perhaps one that will be considerably different to any match we have encountered in the competition before. Olympiacos' Karaiskakis Stadium is an arena well-known for its fiery and intimidating atmosphere, and that is one of the main reasons behind the Greek side's impressive record of just one defeat in their last 20 games there.

Yet, the encounter in Piraeus is one that Eric is excited for, as he believes it is an environment we need to embrace and one that we need to show we can perform in.

“I think it’s going to be a fantastic atmosphere for us to play in,” he admitted. “The environment and even the weather, with it still being so hot, is going to be something quite different for us.

“There are going to be a lot of challenges for us but that is what you expect in the Champions League - many different games that pose different tests. But that is something that I believe is good for us.

“It's also perhaps the first time in the Champions League where we will encounter such an atmosphere in the group stages, so I think that is something for us to embrace and go there and win. I think you should enjoy playing in these environments and enjoy the challenge of it.

"If we want to be a top team and challenge for everything, we need to be able to go into these environments and perform.”