(Football news) After losing to Olympiacos 4-2 at Villa Park last week, Aston Villa has to defeat them by at least three goals at Karaiskakis Stadium in order to advance to a decisive match against either Club Brugge or Fiorentina.
Going into their first-ever European semi-final against Aston Villa, Olympiacos were considered underdogs after overcoming Tel Aviv and Fenerbahce in the previous two knockout rounds, winning the former on penalties and the latter after extra time.
But at Villa Park, the Red-Whites put on one of their most remarkable and resilient performances of the season, spurred on by hat-trick hero Ayoub El Kaabi, who gave the Greek team a two-goal lead in the first 29 minutes.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby either side of half time restored parity for Villa, but El Kaabi completed his hat-trick just before the hour mark to put Olympiacos back in front, before Santiago Hezze added a fourth to seal a historic win in Birmingham – just their fourth European away win in their 20th visit to England.
Manager Jose Luis Mendilibar, who led Sevilla to Europa League glory last season, is potentially 90 minutes away from making history with Olympiacos, who are bidding to become just the second Greek team after Panathinaikos in 1970-71 to reach a major UEFA competition final – this year’s Conference League showpiece will be held in Athens on May 29.
Olympiacos have not lost any of their last eight games in all competitions and will be confident of finishing the job on Thursday as they have come out on top in four of their last five European home matches, scoring 12 goals in the process.
Competing in their first European competition for 14 years, Aston Villa have “a mountain to climb” in the eyes of midfielder John McGinn if they wish to continue their Conference League journey and reach their first European final since 1982, following their first-leg defeat to Olympiacos.
Not even four-time Europa League winner Unai Emery could mastermind the Lions to victory, and the Spaniard was once again left disappointed with his side’s performance just three days later when they were condemned to a 1-0 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League last weekend.
Although Villa boasted a relatively strong lineup, they looked jaded and surprisingly lacked a cutting edge in the final third, registering just one of their two shots on target throughout the 90 minutes. Emery’s men were eventually beaten courtesy of an 87th-minute header from Joao Pedro, who nodded home a rebound after his penalty was saved by Robin Olsen.
Villa missed the chance to strengthen their hold on fourth place in the Premier League table, but they are still in the driving seat to secure Champions League football for next season as they sit seven points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have a game in hand.
Villa’s first-ever trip to Greece is coming up, and Emery has acknowledged that Olympiacos “are favourites” to go to the Conference League final. The Lions may find it difficult to overcome a two-goal deficit given that they have lost their last two European matches in which they were defeated at home in the first leg.
Furthermore, Villa has scored just one goal in five of their previous six away games across all competitions. Villa has to score two goals on Thursday in order to even the score on aggregate.
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