Olympiakos make history by reaching Europa Conference League final

PIRAEUS, MAY 10: Olympiakos will face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final after making history with their 2-0 win against Aston Villa in Thursdays semi-final second leg.

Jose Luis Mendilibars side clinched a 6-2 aggregate triumph thanks to a double from Villas chief tormentor Ayoub El Kaabi, who hit a hat-trick in the first leg.

On a raucous night at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Olympiakos, champions of Greece a record 47 times, booked their first appearance in a major European final.
Adding to the sense of destiny for Olympiakos, they will face Italian side Fiorentina on May 29 at the AEK Arena, home of one of their local rivals and just 10 miles across Athens from their own stadium.

Mendilibar only took charge in February, but the Spaniard sacked by Sevilla in October has already made himself an Olympiakos icon by masterminding a monumental achievement for Greek football.

Owned by Evangelos Marinakis, who also runs Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest, Olympiakos had failed to get out of the group stage 14 times in 16 attempts in Europe before this season.    —AFP