The crazy dream really came true, Olympiacos lifted the European Cup!
The Legend of Europe signed off with an ideal finale to his magical journey in the Conference League this year, bending the Fiorentina in extra time (0-0 the regular time) of the OPAP Arena grand final with golden scorer El Kaabi in the 116′furiously celebrating the great victory with 1-0 and thus writing the most golden page of his history!
In the mind of the coaches
With no surprises in his eleven and with 4-2-3-1, Jose Luis Mendilibar lined up Olympiakos, choosing Tzolakis under the posts, Rodinei in the role of right back, Ortaga on the left and Carmo, Retso duo stopper. Ibora and Ese started the grand final on the axis, with Tsiquinios just ahead of them. Fortounis took the role of the right winger, Pontense of the left and El Kaabi was the most promoted!
On the other hand, Fiorentina’s coach, Vincenzo Italiano, chose the same system, with goalkeeper Terazzano, Dodo, Milenkovic, Martines Cuarta and captain Biraghi as a defensive four, while Artur, Madragora started as a duo on the axis. Bonaventura had the role of “ten”, with Beltran staying on the bench, while Gonzalez, Kwame were the wingers next to center forward Belotti.
The match
After an impressive ceremony, the grand final began with the friends of the two teams having created an impressive atmosphere and with Olympiacos entering the field of OPAP Arena with power, creating the first opportunity to open the scoring in the 3rd minute when Podense picked up the ball on the left wing and curled in perfectly, before firing from the edge of the box, forcing Terazzano to make a difficult save for a corner. Fortounis executed it smartly and quickly with a pass for Rodney, who curled in, with Bonaventura clearing at the last minute. In the 5th minute, Fiorentina came close to Olympiakos’ goal for the first time, with Kwame launching a very quick counter-attack and with the ball reaching Gonzalez, who avoided Ortega with an impressive feint and made the turn, with Belotti’s shot missing , next to the right post of Tzolakis.
The pace was very fast in the first quarter, with Fiorentina threatening again in the 8th minute, with Dodo doing the energy and turning from the right side of the Italian attack, with the “red and white” defense conceding a corner, while then In the second half there was another turn from Biraghi, with the ball passing several feet to the onrushing Milenkovic, who fired the ball into the net from close range, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
Entering the second quarter, Fiorentina had more time with the ball at their feet and had another final attempt in the 14th minute, with a shot outside the area by Kwame countering before ending up in a corner that went untapped for the “viola”, while in the 21st Bonaventura found himself in a “shooting position” after Retsu’s header was cleared, but he shot weakly into the arms of Tzolakis. In fact, in the very next minute, Bonaventura threatened again, with the goalkeeper of Olympiakos coming out in time and beating him in a 4-a-4!
One of the most active players of Olympiakos in the first minutes, Podense was the one who came close to opening the scoring and in the 25th minute, when after a corner by Ciquinho, he moved to the front post and took the header, seeing Terazzano block with overcurrent. After 25′ the pace dropped, with both teams pressing noticeably less compared to the first minutes. In the 32nd minute, after a deep ball into the back of the Olympiakos defense, Tzolakis came out of his goal in time and caught Kwame with… a header, while on the other side of the field, El Kaabi looked very detached.
In the 39th minute, Bonaventura crossed from the left, with Kwame moving to the far post to head in, but Belotti and Gonzalez couldn’t score, while in the last good phase of the first half, in the 40th minute, El Kaabi made the move after an excellent ball from Podense in the back of the defense but Terazzano was out in time to clear before the Moroccan made contact with the ball. As the two teams made their way to the dressing room, there was minor tension between Fiorentina and Olympiacos fans, with police and Italian players making their way to the OPAP Arena pitch to calm the situation.
At the start of the second half, specifically in the 47th minute, Retsos and Belotti collided very hard in an aerial duel, with the Olympiakos defender feeling very dizzy. Although initially Olympiakos’ medical staff indicated to the bench that the defender of the “red and whites” will not be able to continue, he finally asked to remain on the playing field, with Medilibar not replacing him.
In the 53rd minute Piraeus counter-attacked, with Pontense making the energy and turning in from the left for El Kaabi, with the Fiorentina defense clearing, while in the 57th minute Dodo produced an excellent vertical pass, but Belotti was out. along with the ball outside the end line of the field. The pace is slower compared to the first half, with Olympiakos threatening in the 62nd minute, when after Rodney’s movement and cross from the right, Pontense did not make an ideal control and allowed the defenders to clear, while in the 65th minute the Viola came close to scoring after Arthur’s corner, with Milenkovic sending the ball narrowly wide with a powerful header from a very good position.
Fiorentina threatened again in the 69th minute, when after a quick counter-attack and a perfect collaboration between Enzola, Arthur and Kouame, the latter found himself facing Tzolakis, with the Olympiakos goalkeeper making a save in the corner, while in the 72nd minute Mendiliber replaced Fortounis. with Jovetic. In the 80th minute, Olympiacos “touched” the goal, with Horta, who had entered a little earlier as a substitute for Ciquinho, executing with an ideal cross a foul that Rodinei took on the right side and with Ibora sending the ball inches past Tarazzano’s right post with a powerful header!
In 84′ and after another excellent free kick by Horta, El Kaabi threw himself into the path of the ball but it went inches past the Fiorentina goal, while in 89′ Duncan tried to threaten Tzolakis with a long shot, with the ball going too high out. This was also the last final attempt of the regular season, with the 0-0 remaining and the final going to overtime.
Mendiliber brought on Kini for Ortega at the start of extra half-hour time, while in the 94th minute Olympiakos’ players protested loudly at a Martins Cuarta penalty, with the referee and VAR saying ‘you’re playing’, before the very active Jovetic forced Teratsanos in a crucial operation for his team, after a beautiful spot that he caught from the limits of the large area. In the 100th minute, Horta committed another foul for the “red and whites” with a cross, but El Kaabi’s header went high, with both teams unable to find the net even in the first half of extra time.
At the start of the second 15 minutes, Mendiliber replaced the very tired Pontense with Masoura, with Horta moving to the left wing and Jovetic advancing alongside El Kaabi. In the 110th minute, Fiorentina threatened after an hour, with Tzolakis impressively repelling an attempt by Enzola. Finally, the goal of the great triumph came in the 116th minute, with the all-time formidable Ese sending in a fantastic cross from the right and El Kaabi flying into the path of the ball, catching Martins Cuarta and sending it ball in the net with a header and sending Olympiakos friends everywhere to seventh heaven! The phase was controlled for some time by the VARs for possible offside, with the “golden” goal counting normally and with the “red and whites” becoming the first Greek team to win a European trophy!
More in a while…
The compositions of the groups
Olympiacos (Mentilibar, 4-2-3-1): Tzolakis – Rodinei, Retsos, Karmo, Ortega (91′ Kini) – Ibora, Ese – Fortounis (72′ Jovetic), Tsiquinho (79′ Orta), Pontense (106′ Masoura) – El Kaabi
Paschalakis, Papadoudis, El Arabi, Alexandropoulos, Carvalio, Richards, Apostolopoulos, Doe remained on the bench.
Fiorentina (Italian, 4-2-3-1): Terazzano – Dodo, Milenkovic, Martines Cuarta, Biraghi (106′ Ranieri) – Artur (75′ Duncan), Madragora – Gonzalez (106′ Beltran), Bonaventura (83′ Barak ), Kwame (83′ Icone) – Belotti (59′ Enzola)
Christensen, Lopez, Infantino, Faraoni, Cayonte and Parisi are on the bench.
Referee: Artur Dias (Portugal)
Assistants: Paulo Soares (Portugal), Pedro Ribeiro (Portugal)
Fourth: Glen Nyberg (Sweden)
VAR: Christian Dieggert (Germany), Marco Fritz (Germany)
Source: Sport Fm
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
