Olympiakos wrote their name in the history books as they beat Fiorentina 1-0 in the UEFA Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.
In the lack luster first half, both teams created few chances with Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic putting the ball into the net only to see the assistant referee’s flag up for offside. Nicolás González missed a glorious opportunity to put the Italians in front in the final stages of first half. Olympiakos slowly grew into the game creating chances of their own but the half ended goalless.
The best chance of the game came in the second half when right-back Dodo steamed forward for the Italians and crossed the ball to Christian Kouame only for the Ivorian to mishit the ball. Olympiakos’ defense was resilient throughout the game and Steven Jovetic, former Fiorentina player, created a chance deep into second off only to see his effort saved by Pietro Terracciano.
In the extra time, El Kaabi won the game for the Greek side in 116th minute with his 33rd goal of the season prompting wild celebrations inside OPAP arena. The celebrations, however, were put on a brief hold due to a VAR check but the goal was eventually given.
This is Olympiakos manager José Luis Mendilibar’s second European trophy in two seasons having won the Europa league with Sevilla last season.
Olympiakos has become the first team from Greece to win a European club competition. Before yesterday’s final, Panathinaikos came closest to achieve this feat when they qualified for European cup final in 1971 only to lose to Ajax. With this win Olympiakos have also secured their place in the UEFA Europa league group stages for next season.
Fiorentina Suffer Second Consecutive Defeat in Two Finals
Fiorentina’s defeat against Olympiakos in their second consecutive defeat in UEFA conference league finals as they suffered the same faith against West Ham last time out losing 2-1. Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano said, “We really believed this time. It hurts, It’s disappointing for the second time. It’s disappointing because again we had many situations to score goals but the players did everything they could”. La Viola also lost the Italian cup final last year against Inter Milan.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
