3️⃣ things we learned as Olympiacos beat Fiorentina to win UECL | OneFootball

Olympiacos defeated Fiorentina 1-0 in extra time to win the Europa Conference League in Athens on a special night for both the club and Greek football as a whole.

Here is what we made of things on a magical night for the Greeks in Athens.

The greatest night in Olympiacos history?

Despite being the undisputed kings of domestic Greek football with a staggering 47 league titles and 28 cups, tonight might just top any achievement in the 99-year history of Olympiacos.

Not only is it their first success in a first final, it is the first time any Greek side has won a European trophy. It is a massive moment for the country as a whole, their biggest since the national team won EURO 2004.

However, more importantly for the Red and Whites, it is something they will be able to lord over all their rivals for years to come. That it came in AEK’s ground undoubtedly will make it all the sweeter.

And boy, did they do it the hard way. Having fallen into the Conference League after finishing third in their Europa League group, they have overcame the odds time and time again.

They came back from a 4-1 home loss to Maccabi Tel Aviev in the last 16, defeated Fenerbahçe on penalties in Istanbul in the quarter finals and then knocked off favourites Aston Villa and European specialist Unai Emery in the semi final.

The sense of destiny about it all is only added to by the presence of last season’s Europa Leauge-winning manager, José Luis Mendilibar, in the dugout.

Don’t expect the party to end anytime soon.

More heartache for La Viola

While it is delirious joy for Olympiacos, it is more European devastation for Fiorentina.

Tonight was the Florence club’s sixth final and their fifth loss, nearly all of which have come in heartbreaking fashion.

They were the first Italian team to make the European Cup final in 1957, losing controversially to Real Madrid. They lost to arch-rivals Juventus in the UEFA Cup final in 1990, while it’s now back-to-back late losses in the Europa Conference League final.

Last season, it was Jarrod Bowen who tore it away from them in Prague, and tonight it was Ayoub El Kabbi who just got his head to the ball to steal the win and the trophy for the Greeks with just four minutes left in extra-time.

La Viola were slight favourites heading into the game but could not find a way through, with several missed opportunities that they will be left stewing over in the coming months.

What does the final loss (a third overall in two seasons) mean for manager Vincenzo Italiano? When will they add to their sole Cup Winners’ Cup win from 63 long years ago?

They will be back in the Conference League again next season but right now, there is more questions than answers and a further feeling of what might have been.

The Europa Conference League delivers once again

Let’s be honest, it was a mostly awful game of football tonight with neither side willing to take too many risks out of the fear of conceding. In other words, it was a cup final.

But, that isn’t the story. Tonight once again showed how brilliant the reintroduction of a third European competition has been for the sport.

2022 saw Roma lift their first major European trophy, last year saw West Ham win their first trophy in 43 years, while tonight, as already noted, Olympiacos made both club and Greek history.

None of these nights for the clubs, the players and the fans would have been possible if not for the birth of the Europa Conference League, with the financial disparity in football making it near-impossible for an underdog to do something special. Atalanta’s Europa League win is likely to be an anomaly, sadly.

With Chelsea in the competition next season, there is a definitive big fish in a relatively small pond, but the competition’s worth is already secured after another great campaign.