Olympiakos won the Europa Conference League on Wednesday May 29 in Athens; it is the first European title for a Greek club. The Pireean club beat Fiorentina after extra time (1-0). Thanks to this success, he is guaranteed to participate in the Europa League next season.
Fiorentina lost for the second consecutive year in the final of this competition after being defeated last season by the English club West Ham.
In a match that had been locked down for a long time and lacking in opportunities, we had to wait for the end of extra time and long minutes of VAR verification (video refereeing) to validate Ayoub El Kaabi’s goal, scored in the 116th minute, and thus delivering Olympiakos.
Very little in sight throughout the match, the Moroccan striker waited for the best moment to score his eleventh goal in the competition, of which he is the top scorer, by heading a cross from Santiago Hezze from six meters.
A match poor in chances
In the stadium of rival AEK Athens, carried by 15,000 red and white supporters, the Greeks were the first to appear dangerous. In the third minute, winger Podence saw his shot at the edge of the area diverted for a corner by Terracciano.
The Florentines responded quickly and thought they had opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a low cross but the goal was disallowed for an offside position by Milenkovic.
Despite a lively and engaged start to the match, the pace of the match gradually fell, undermined by numerous technical inaccuracies.
The second half, particularly choppy, saw contacts multiply. The tension increased over the minutes and the shocks were then rougher, requiring the intervention of the trainers for Retsos (48ᵉ) then Podence (62ᵉ). On the line, the two teams tried to force the decision but Tzolakis in front of Kouamé (68th) and Terraccino against Jovetic (95th) showed themselves imperially to preserve their cages.
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The Greeks could have ruminated on a handball not whistled in the Italian area at the very start of extra time, but while the players seemed to be waiting for the penalty shootout, El Kaabi’s lightning delivered his team in front of a red and white corner unleashed.
José Luis Mendilibar, arrived as a savior
Author of a failed start to the championship, Olympiakos has changed coaches three times, seven times in total over the last two seasons, but has transformed since the arrival on the bench of the Spaniard José Luis Mendilibar , in February, finishing in third place in the Greek Super League. Winner of the Europa League with Sevilla last year, the 63-year-old technician achieved a European double in two years.
Olympiakos, the most successful club in Greece with forty-seven championships and twenty-eight national cups, which will celebrate its hundredth anniversary next year, adds a new line, the most prestigious, to its already extensive list of achievements.