A cruel injury and a morale-boosting return: El Kaabi steals the spotlight before the Greek derby

Amid the brilliance of his Moroccan teammates

Ayoub El Kaabi stole the spotlight before the derby between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. The Morocco international turned up at the Karaiskakis Stadium on crutches, sidelined through injury, and the Olympiacos faithful chanted his name in welcome.

Raising a hand to acknowledge the tribute, the striker showed exactly what he means to supporters of the Greek club, who were desperate to lift him through the night. He is still recovering from the injury he picked up against Volos, one that required surgery and has ruled him out for a lengthy spell.

His involvement went beyond cheering his team-mates on from the sidelines. El Kaabi shared the joy of the win with them at full time, embracing Greek defender Panagiotis Retsos, scorer of the winning goal, in a moment that caught the eye of the Greek media.

Olympiacos settled the derby with a single unanswered goal. Retsos struck in the 34th minute of this sixth-round Greek league fixture to hand his side a precious win over their traditional rivals.

There was Moroccan involvement in the Panathinaikos ranks too. Azzedine Ounahi started before making way in the 83rd minute, Anass Salah-Eddine came on at the start of the second half, and Amrabat Lmara... Imran Louza featured in the starting line-up.