Olympiakos threw Aston Villa out of Europe, which was checked by Mendilibar
The night is unique for Olympiakos and Greek football, it is a night that will go down in history for the epic qualification of the port side to the final of the Conference League
The night is unique for Olympiakos and Greek football, it is a night that will go down in history for the epic qualification of the port side to the final of the UEFA Conference League.
Magical, indescribable, historic, unrepeatable and amazing:
The Olympiacos of Jose Luis Mendilibar, Tzolakis, Carmo, Iborra, Fortounis and Podence achieved the biggest qualification in the history of the Greek team. He beat the famous and high-budget English side
Aston Villa twice, first with
2-4 in Birmingham, at home and then on Thursday night (9/5) in Piraeus, in the "Georgos Karaiskakis" packed with 32,000 fans. And Olympiacos, for the first time in its 99-year history, qualified for the final of a European competition, and more specifically, that of the Europa
UEFA Conference League. Thus they became the second Greek team to appear in the final, 51 years later (2/6/1971) after
Panathinaikos, who had qualified for the final of the Champions Cup.
OLYMPIACOS 🔴⚪️
— Olympiacos FC (@olympiacosfc) May 9, 2024
➡️ #UECLfinal pic.twitter.com/c474A9WA5o
The "red and whites" in the second semi-final against Aston Villa faced almost no resistance. They managed to score twice with Moroccan international forward Ayoub El Kaabi (he had 3 at Villa Park) and easily beat Unai Emery's high-paid side 2-0. It was the end for the English team as the English press later pointed out.
What happened to "Georgios Karaiskakis" was an explosion of a "volcano". And the red… lava melted Aston Villa. Undoubtedly, this played an important role in the outcome of the match and the securing of qualification by the Greek team.
What the Olympiakos football players experienced in terms of support shows the power of this sea of people. It proves that the world of Olympiakos is a giant whose like can hardly exist.
Aston Villa, which occupies the 4th place in the Premier League and will logically appear next season in the expanded UEFA Champions League, fought with its "back against the wall". He wanted to make a strong start to the game to surprise the home team, but in the equation of the game there was the decisive factor called Jose Luis Mendilibar. And who had very carefully studied every move of his countryman, Unai Emery and for the second time in a row he did...MAT.
At almost no point in the match did the Olympiakos players allow the visitors to approach or threaten the goal of the young goalkeeper,
Constantis Tzolakis, while with the constant changes of positions they created serious problems for the defense of Aston Villa. Thus, twice the Moroccan center forward,
Ayoub El Kaabi
escaped his personal opponents and sent the ball into the Argentinian net,
Emiliano Martinez (he passed the ball under his feet the second time). So Olympiakos, which won 4-2 in England, left
Unai Emery's
team in the cold and will now fight the big battle in the final of the Europa Conference League on May 29, on Greek soil and more specifically in Hagia Sophia , against Francesco Iuliano's
Fiorentina.
And of course, just like in "Karaiskakis", so too in New Philadelphia they will make a contribution of their souls with the aim of lifting their first European trophy...
Manos Staramopoulos
Journalist and Analyst of International Football and Affairs
Chief Editor English Zone of Discoveryfootball.com
Athens (Greece)
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