The legendary Greek soccer team made history. A few months before turning 100, Olympiacos added the most golden page to its history by winning the Conference League. In the final held at Opap Arena, it beat Fiorentina 1-0 in extra time, bringing the whole country to its feet. The golden scorer for the Piraeus team was (who else?) El Kaabi...
In just a few months, José Luis Mendilibar built a team that not only reached the final of a European competition, knocking out the favorites, Aston Villa, but also won the coveted trophy. A trophy that no other Greek team has ever brought home to our country.
The first chance of the final came in the 4th minute. Ponce's shot was deflected by Terracciano with difficulty for a corner. In the next minute, the Italians went on the counterattack, with Boletti shooting from inside the area, but the ball went wide.
The game started at a fast pace and in the 8th minute, Retsos cleared the ball before Boletti could pose a threat. In the 10th minute, Milenkovic scored, but he was offside and the goal was disallowed.
In the 20th minute, Fortounis took a free kick, but Imbora was unable to get on the end of it to score with a header.
Tzolakis
Viola controlled the game and in the 21st and 22nd minutes missed two classic chances with Bonaventura, who was unable to beat Tzolakis. The Greek goalkeeper's intervention in the 22nd minute was particularly decisive.
Second phase in the final for Olympiacos, again with Ponce. In the 25th minute, Tsikino took a corner kick, the Portuguese player headed the ball at the near post, but Terracano blocked it.
In the 32nd minute, Tzolakis came out of his area and cleared the ball with his head before Kouame could pose a threat. In the 40th minute, El Kaabi found himself face to face with Terracano, but he delayed his shot and the Viola goalkeeper punched the ball away.
There were no goals in the first half, with Fiorentina posing the greater threat in attack and Tzolakis keeping a clean sheet.
In the second half, the game was completely balanced, with both finalists looking for mistakes in order to create the conditions for a goal.
In the 53rd minute, Quarta cleared a cross from Ponce before El Kaabi could shoot.
In the 57th minute, Tsikinio crossed the ball, and Dodo got there first and nipped it away before El Kaabi could shoot. In the 62nd minute, Fortounis crossed the ball, Pondece brought it down with his chest, but Dodo stole it from him.
In the 65th minute, Fiorentina threatened. Artur took a corner, Milenkovic headed the ball, but it went wide.
Opportunities
A great opportunity for Fiorentina in the 69th minute. Dodo passed to Kouame, who had a clear shot on goal, but Tzolakis deflected it for a corner.
In the 81st minute, Orta took a free kick, Imbora headed the ball, but it went just wide! In the 84th minute, Orta took another free kick, but El Kaabi was unable to get his head to the ball.
No goals were scored in the 90 minutes of the match and the final went into extra time. In the 94th minute, the Red and Whites demanded a penalty for a handball by Cuarta, and in the 96th minute, Terracano saved a shot by Jovetic with difficulty.
In the 100th minute, Orta took a corner kick, El Kaabi headed the ball, but missed the goal.
In the 110th minute, Enzola took a shot, but Tzolakis blocked the ball.
The killer
And in the 116th minute, Olympiacos’ killer struck. Ese crossed the ball, El Kaabi headed it in to open the scoring and gave the trophy to the Piraeus team.
Portuguese referee Artur Soares Dias showed yellow cards to Ponce, Jovetic, Paschalakis (who was on the bench), El Kaabi, Quarta, Kouame, and Biragi.
Olympiacos (Medilibar): Tzolakis, Rodinei, Retsos, Carmo, Ortega (91’ Kini), Imbora, Tsikino (77’ Tsikino), Eze, Fortounis (72’ Jovetic), Pondece (106’ Masouras), El Kaabi (121’ El Arabi).
Fiorentina (Italian): Terracciano, Dodô, Milenković, Martínez Cuarta, Biraghi (196’ Ranieri), Bonaventura (82’ Barak), Artur (74’ Duncan), Mandragora, Gonzales (106’ Beltran), Kouame (82’ Ikoné), Belotti (58’ Enzola).
