Hundreds of Olympiacos fans were at Athens’ Eleftherios Venizelos airport early this morning to greet the football team upon its return from Birmingham, England, where the team beat out Aston Villa 4-2.
Last night Olympiacos faced-off with Aston Villa in the first semi-final between the two in the Europa Conference League. The second leg of the semi-final will be played at Olympiacos’ Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium next Thursday, May 9.
Olympiacos’ victory was the first time Aston Villa was defeated at home this season. Up until last night, Aston Villa had six wins under its belt at its home-field ‘Villa Park’, while it was Olympiacos’ fourth win out of the 21 games the team played in England (1 draw and 16 losses).
Aston Villa is the last remaining English team participating in a European competition from the 2023-24 season, and the club must now finish in fourth place to guarantee a Champions League spot next season.
Olympiacos striker Ayoub El Kaabi left the pitch with a “hat trick”, scoring in the 16th, 19th and 56th minutes. Meanwhile the fourth goal was scored by Santiago Hezze in the 67th minute.
One of Villa’s top performers, Ollie Watkins, scored in the first half, while Moussa Diaby scored the team’s second goal at the 52nd minute.
