Olympiacos FC has won its first ever European title as the Piraeus side beat Fiorentina 1-0 in the Europa Conference League Final on Wednesday evening in Athens, sending its millions of fans around the world into a frenzy.
Olympiacos’ victory brings the first European championship in club competition to Greece. A month earlier, Olympiacos’ U-19 team was crowned European champions after beating Milan 3-0 in Nyon, Switzerland, for the UEFA Youth League title.
The pivotal moment in the final came when the Conference League’s top goal-scorer, Moroccan striker Ayoub El Kaabi, darted the ball past a defender and Fiorentina’s keeper in extra time (116th minute) to score his 11th goal in nine matches. El Kaabi, the game’s MVP, touched a curving cross from Santiago Hezze from the left side and past the hands of Pietro Terracciano. Players and fans were on edge for several minutes for a VAR check to confirm that no offside was evident.
Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis beamed as he returned to the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate with the coaches and players. Marinakis hugged and congratulated every player, amid the thunderous cheering and song by the thousands of Olympiacos fans in the stadium – witnesses to a glorious chapter in the club’s 100-year history.
The next images were of players, manager Jose Luis Mendilibar and Marinakis lifting the “silverware” into the air, with the images disseminated around the world.
The championship is Mendilibar’s second consecutive European title after he won the Europa League last season with Sevilla.
Conversely, the last-minute goal sent Fiorentina and its coach Vincenzo Italiano “to the mat” for a second straight season, as it lost the final of the Europa Conference League last year to West Ham.
In his first post-game statements, Mendilibar, who took over the reins of the “Reds” last February and led the club to a historic title said:
“I am very happy and satisfied, it is an honor that I made these fans happy. I feel immense joy and happiness…I am happy that we have achieved something that no other (Greek) club has achieved before. We’re going to celebrate it, we’re going to celebrate properly and then we’re going to start working on what’s next…”
A Greek mythology inspired front-page feature by Marca honoring Olympiacos coach Mendilibar: ‘On Football’s Mt. Olympus’
