The problem with Sevilla seeing the Europa League winner as bound to conquer the continent is that there is more than one. Unai Emery may look like the king of Europe, but the defending champions have one foot in the Europa Conference League final. Instead of Emery’s fifth European trophy, it could be Jose Luis Mendelebar’s second after Olympiakos stormed Villa Park courtesy of Ayoub El-Kaby’s hat-trick.
Aston Villa can still hope for two trips to Athens this month, for the final as well as the semi-final second leg, but they come to the Acropolis in Birmingham.
After the penalty brought them to this stage, they can regret two more: the one Douglas Luiz conceded and the one he missed.
Villa’s first European semi-final in 42 years was a classic, but one they could rue, their defensive frailty compounding a variety of bad luck for Olympiakos’ third and fourth goals. A historic occasion could lead to a historic result if Olympiacos becomes the first Greek club to win a European trophy.
On a night when Villa came back once, with Moussa Diaby scoring a goal and another either side of half-time, they needed another.
Despite Emery’s vast experience, the fanatical entertainer left Villa in their first European campaign for 14 years. They could play a game of brinkmanship with their superior defensive line but El Kaby was fouled twice in 14 first-half minutes. Olympiacos were counter-attacking. Emery lost to a fellow Basque; Indeed, a recent Sevilla Europa League winner. If Mendeleybar had a reputation as a sort of Spanish Tony Plus, he is putting it on hold to become a European specialist, parachuting back in mid-season, with another immediate impact.
For Villa, as competition favorites after winning all six of their European home games this season, it represents an unwelcome shock. The atmosphere was electric, Villa Park a sea of claret and blue. Yet Olympiakos was not to be daunted. Exciting and classy, they scored four runs and could have had more, with Kostas Fortunis blowing a shot over and Cicinho making a fine save from Robin Olsen.
And any sense Villa could have made without Amy Martinez was misplaced. Not that Olsen was particularly to blame for any of the goals and the Swede was unlucky for the fourth, when Santiago Heyze’s shot took a huge deflection off the back of Ezri Konsa. They could have done with a penalty specialist for a third, but Martinez’s antics in the shootout at Lille, receiving a second yellow card but no red, meant the World Cup winner was missing. Perhaps a goalkeeper of his caliber has done some special magic, though; The villa was so open, they needed to be saved.
It hardly helped that, short of Uri Thielemans, they were short of midfielders. Emery opted for a more attacking side than usual and the result was a six-goal thriller. El Kaby’s treble took him to 31 for the season, 13 of them in Europe. Despite spending the autumn in the Europa League, the dangerous Moroccan is now joint top scorer in the Conference League.
He pounced when Olympiakos twice sprang the offside trap, with Villa’s full-back both found wanting. His first goal was then awarded, with VAR overturning an initial offside decision. Viewing owner Evangelos Marinakis probably didn’t complain about the decision. As Chiquinho drove the ball forward, Matty Cash was caught behind the rest of the defence, which justified the goal. West Midlands loanee Daniel Pudens then drove the ball forward, El Kaby brought it down and fired in a half-volley. He had a brilliant display, a No. 9 with purpose and presence, power and pace.
Villa had their own peril. They had already seen Leon Bailly’s strike disallowed for a foul by Clement Lenglet and were denied a spot-kick when the Jamaican was fouled by Francisco Ortega.
He pulled level with two quality strikes. The first was a typical Villa goal, Ollie Watkins making a diagonal run to meet Diaby’s through pass and arrow in a shot. Emery signaled to calm down. No one did and Diaby continued to make an impact, running onto Bale’s pass and finishing from an acute angle, aided by a misjudgment by Kostas Zoulakis, who left a gap at his near post in anticipation of a cross. .
Yet they were tied for only four minutes. Then Panagiotis Retsis’ header on Douglas Luiz’s raised elbow. It was an unnatural position but the Brazilian was barely a yard away. El Kaby sent Olson the wrong way. Then Hezze’s strike put Olympiacos two goals up again.
Villa’s response was great, but the resulting sense of waste grew. David Carmo fouled substitute John Doran but the usually reliable Douglas Luiz clipped the post with his spot-kick.
If Villa’s ability to bestow gifts on the Greeks could prove their undoing, he wished Sevilla had not sacked Mendelibar, months after he had led them to continental glory. Now, instead of Emery, he could become the Spaniard to join the Conference League in the Europa League.
Credit : www.independent.co.uk
