Ayoub El Kaabi’s only goal in the 116th minute helped Olympiacos win 1-0 against Fiorentina on the evening of May 29 and win this year’s UEFA Conference League championship.
Olympiakos has a certain advantage, when this year’s UEFA Conference League final is held in Athens (Greece). Right from the first minutes, the two teams entered the match at high speed.
El Kaabi scored the only goal of the match (Photo: Reuters).
In the 4th minute, Podence had a technical situation of dribbling the ball to the edge of the penalty area and then fired a dangerous shot forcing goalkeeper Terracciano to fly to save Fiorentina. 5 minutes later, Biraghi put the ball into Olympiakos’ net but VAR technology determined there was an offside error.
The next few minutes took place at a fast pace, both teams tried hard but did not have sharpness in finishing. Olympiakos and Fiorentina had to enter extra time to determine the winner.
The highlight of the match came in the 116th minute, when El Kaabi cut the ball and headed the ball into Fiorentina’s net. After consulting VAR technology, the referee decided to recognize the goal for Olympiakos. The remaining time is too little for the Italian representative to turn the game around.
El Kaabi’s only decisive strike for Olympiakos (115:16) was the latest goal in a European Cup final since Diego Forlan scored for Atletico Madrid against Fulham in the 2010 Europa League final (115 :36).
El Kaabi became the first player to score 11 goals in the knockout round of the European Cup. The Moroccan striker officially surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Radamel Falcao, who both had 10 goals.
With a breathtaking victory, Olympiakos became the first Greek team to win the European Cup. Fiorentina failed for the second time in a row in the UEFA Conference League final (last year they lost to West Ham).
The joy of Olympiakos’s championship (Photo: Reuters).
Coach Jose Luis Mendilibar won the European Cup for the second time in a row. Last season, he helped Sevilla win the Europa League. Mendilibar also became the second coach in history to win two consecutive UEFA tournaments with two different clubs, after Rafael Benitez (UEFA Cup with Valencia in 2004 and Champions League with Liverpool in 2005).
The UEFA Conference League is Europe’s third division, after the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, starting from the 2021-2022 season. The three championship teams in the last 3 years are AS Roma, West Ham and Olympiakos.
Olympiakos is the most traditional football team in Greece with 47 national championships, 28 National Cups, 4 Greek Super Cups and now the Conference League. In the Greek tournament, Olympiakos’ two biggest opponents are Panathinaikos and AEK Athens.