Olympiacos eye spot as 2nd Greek side in history to vie for UEFA final

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) — Olympiacos may go down in history as the second Greek team to reach an UEFA competition final as they prepare to take on English Premier League side Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.

The Greek side, which won the first leg of the semifinal against Aston Villa 4-2, may become the first Greek team to reach an UEFA competition final in ovr half a century, since Panathinaikos' 2-0 loss to Ajax in the 1971 European Cup final.

"I'm proud of my team, but even more so because when it was 2-2 my team fought back and we managed to win 4-2," said Olympiacos manager Jose Luis Mendilibar.

"We played our game and got an amazing result. We were ourselves and we didn't think about how good the opponents were and, while showing absolute respect for them, we didn't stop for a moment our efforts," he added.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, who has four UEFA Europa League trophies under his belt, said, "We will try to come back but they are the favorites."

"What do we need to improve? Everything. We conceded four goals, lost a lot of balls. We were extra motivated and extra excited. It's a very good moment playing in the semi-final and we lost the first leg. We will have the second opportunity," he added.

- Semifinal fixtures:

- Wednesday

Club Brugge-Fiorentina (First leg ended 2-3)

- Thursday

Olympiacos-Aston Villa (First leg ended 4-2)