(Football news) Both Villa and Olympiacos needed penalties to move from the quarterfinals; Villa defeated Lille, while Olympiacos defeated Fenerbahce. With three Europa League titles and two runners-up medals to his name, Unai Emery has an incredible European record. After a thrilling two-leg match against Lille two weeks ago, he is now aiming for Conference League triumph in his first full season with Aston Villa.
The French team Lille had a 2-1 first-leg advantage against the Lions, but Matty Cash pulled the game to a close draw. Emiliano Martinez made two outstanding saves on penalty kicks to help Villa win 4-3 in the shootout.
Villa have put together a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions that has been bookended by Premier League draws against Brentford and Chelsea in which they let two-goal leads slip, most recently drawing 2-2 at home with the latter last weekend even though they were leading at half time.
Despite that, Emery’s side remain on course to secure Champions League football for next season as they sit fourth in the Premier League table and seven points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have two games in hand but lost to rivals Arsenal last time out.
Villa’s ability to balance European and domestic duties will be put to the test once again over the next seven days, and although they have never faced Greek opposition before, they will fancy their chances of securing a positive first-leg result on Thursday as they boast a 100% record across six home matches in this season’s competition; they have also failed to score in just one of their last 31 European home games.
Olympiacos have progressed to their first-ever UEFA club competition semi-final after beating Turkish outfit Fenerbahce 3-2 on penalties in the quarter-finals, following a 3-3 draw over two legs.
The Red-Whites suffered a slender 1-0 second-leg defeat in Istanbul, but as they did in the previous round against Maccabi Tel Aviv, they prevailed in the shootout thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis, who saved three penalties to spare the blushes of both Youssef El-Arabi and Rodinei who failed to convert from 12 yards.
Since his appointment as manager in mid-February, Jose Luis Mendilibar has won 12 of his 17 games in charge of Olympiacos across all competitions, with his side extending their seven-game winless run last weekend courtesy of a comfortable 4-1 Greek Super League victory over Lamia.
47-time Super League champions Olympiacos, who are now behind in a four-team race for the championship, need to set aside their domestic responsibilities and concentrate on the Conference League. Mendilibar, who guided Sevilla to the Europa League championship the previous season, will have the responsibility of leading the Red-Whites to victory in their difficult first-leg matchup at Aston Villa.
Olympiacos has only won three of its previous 19 European excursions to England, most recently losing 1-0 at West Ham United in the Europa League group stage in November of last year. The team’s three wins during this run have all come against Arsenal, so success in Birmingham could prove difficult.
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