Olympiakos became the first Greek club to win a European trophy after they beat Fiorentina 1-0 in the Europa Conference League final.
In the 116th minute, Moroccan forward Ayoub El Kaabi scored the game-winning goal, enabling Jose Luis Mendilibar’s team to create history at home against AEK Athens.
Panathinaikos, the only Greek team to reach a European final before Olympiakos’ achievement, was defeated by an Ajax team led by Johan Cruyff in the 1971 European Cup final.
Both teams came out firing, with Daniel Podence forcing Fiorentina custodian Pietro Terracciano into a superb save and Andrea Belotti missing his kick when he had a decent chance at the opposite end.
After nine minutes, Fiorentina thought they had grabbed the lead, but Nikola Milenkovic’s header past Olympiakos’ Konstantinos Tzolakis was promptly called for offside.
Fiorentina had the best of the first-half chances, but Nicolas Gonzalez mistimed his volley when well-positioned, and Greek goalie Tzolakis made a wonderful stop at the feet of Giacomo Bonaventura shortly after.
The second half saw a decline in shots on goal, but in minute 69, Tzolakis saved Olympiakos once more, making a smart adjustment to leap backward and block Christian Kouame’s scuffed, bouncing attempt.
In the final ten minutes, experienced Olympiakos forward Vicente Iborra came dangerously close to breaking the deadlock with a header from a free-kick that went just wide of the Fiorentina goal.
However, as the game finally drifted into extra time, this was the last meaningful opportunity of regulation time.
Four minutes into extra time, Olympiakos made a fruitless attempt to get a penalty kick, but the referee determined that the defender’s arm was in a natural position when Stevan Jovetic’s cross hit it just inside the box.
A minute later, just as the game appeared to be picking up steam again, former Fiorentina legend Jovetic, who had come on from the Olympiakos bench, forced a fine save from Terracciano with a curling 20-yard strike.
But after that, the teams were unwilling to take a chance that could cost them the draw, and the game tightened up once more.
Penalties looked inevitable until El Kaabi bent down to head in Santiago Hezze’s cross for his 16th goal of the season in European competition in the 116th minute.
When El Kaabi’s goal was confirmed in the 120th minute after a protracted VAR review, the majority Greek fans in Athens let it be known how much the game meant to the team.
“Amazing. For Olympiakos and me. Really proud of my guys. We did great all year and deserved it,” Jovetic said to TNT Sports.
The celebration in Olympiakos’ hometown of Athens tonight, the attacker from Montenegro continued, “will be amazing”.
After falling to West Ham 2-1 in 2023 following Jarrod Bowen’s 90-minute game-winning goal, Fiorentina faced elimination in two straight Europa Conference League finals.
“I have to compliment Fiorentina, two years in a row. A shame for them,” added Jovetic, who played for the Tuscan side from 2008-2013.
Photo by EPA/ACHILLEAS CHIRAS
