coach with a three-year contract worth approximately €6 million. The 2008–09 season started badly for Olympiacos, with the team losing their first few official matches, against Anorthosis Famagusta for the Champions League third qualifying round, and was eliminated from the tournament, which resulted to a seat in the UEFA Cup first round, where Olympiacos beat Nordsjælland to qualify for the group stage. The team also started well in the 2008–09 Super League Greece, winning every match at home, but facing difficulties away. They ended up winning the Greek Championship and the Greek Cup, celebrating the 14th double in Olympiacos history. After an impressive UEFA Cup run at home, with some spectacular wins against Benfica (5–1) and Hertha BSC (4–0), the team managed to get through to the round of 32, facing French side Saint-Étienne. In the summer of 2009, Olympiacos signed major players, such as Olof Mellberg from Juventus for €2.5 million, midfielder Jaouad Zairi from Asteras Tripolis and Enzo Maresca from Sevilla. Many other players returned from loan spells, such as former Real Madrid defender Raúl Bravo, Georgios Katsikogiannis and midfielder Cristian Ledesma. Olympiacos appointed former Brazil legend Zico as their coach and started the 2009–10 season with great success, as they qualified for the Champions League final 16, finishing second in Group H only 3 points behind Arsenal, despite the absence of numerous first-team players due to injuries. They faced Bordeaux in the final 16 and lost the first match at home (0–1). In the second match, despite Bordeaux's early lead, Olympiacos leveled the match and missed some great chances to score a second goal, before eventually losing in the dying moments of the match (1–2). Domestically, Olympiacos secured a 2–0 derby win over arch-rivals Panathinaikos, with striker Kostas Mitroglou scoring twice. However, this was only a highlight in an otherwise below-par season for the club, as they not only lost the championship to Panathinaikos, but were also defeated in four out of their six playoff games, eventually finishing last, in the 5th position of the league table; this result marked the team's worst ranking since being placed 8th in 1988, and meant that the club would start their Europa League campaign from the second qualifying round the following season. New presidency, seven consecutive championships and European ascent (2010–2017) In 2010, Evangelos Marinakis, a successful shipping magnate, bought the team from Sokratis Kokkalis. During the first year of