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Greece is a country steeped with gods and history, and the gods indeed smiled down on Olympiakos on Wednesday night as they made history by defeating Fiorentina 1-0 in the UEFA Europa Conference League final in Athens.
A dour encounter was decided by a goal in the 115th minute by Conference League top scorer Ayoub El Kaabi. It was a first-ever European title for a Greek side and the second in three seasons for their manager, Jose Luis Mendilibar. A four-minute VAR review was needed to confirm El Kaabi’s 11th goal in the competition and the winner.
The game started furiously, but the tempo slowed as both teams proceeded cautiously. Fiorentina, last season’s beaten finalists, had more of the ball possession. The Italian side had created more than 300 scoring chances throughout their campaign but have scored less than 10 per cent.
The first goal-scoring chance fell to Andrea Belotti in the sixth minute, but there was no power behind the effort. Nikola Milenkovic scored in the ninth, but it was rightly flagged offside. Giacomo Bonaventura shot straight at Konstantinos Tzolakis, and then the Olympiakos goalkeeper had to be sharp off his line to smother Bonaventura just afterwards.
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Next, it was Nicolás González, who had a clear sight of the target, but he scuffed his effort as the first half ended.
Panagiotis Retsos and Belotti clashed heads as the second half resumed, as both teams seemed anxious. Daniel Podence had a shot blocked. Christian Kouame should have done better with an effort in the 70th minute, as he hit it into the ground to allow Tzolakis to make a diving save.
The extra time followed the same pattern until the 115th minute, when sustained pressure from Olympiakos created a crossing chance for Santiago Hezze, and El Kaabi got ahead of Nikola Milenkovic to head in the winner.
A lengthy VAR review could not dampen the celebration as Olympiakos held on to make history.
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