Aston Villa sent packing from UECL, Olympiacos

Aston Villa’s hopes of ending the season with a European trophy came to an end on Thursday as they lost 2-0 on the night and 6-2 on aggregate to Greek side Olympiacos in the semi-final of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Unai Emery’s side has had a tremendous season where they are still chasing UEFA Champions League football in the Premier League, coupled with the fact that the Spanish manager was named among the nominees for the Premier League Manager of the Season award and forward Ollie Watkins was also nominated for the player of the season award released on Thursday.

The fans would afford that the nominations would spur the English side to overturn a 4-2 loss from the first leg last week at Villa Park, but it wasn’t meant to be for Villa, who quickly succumbed to their nemesis from the first leg.

Olympiacos striker Ayoub El Kaabi has 10 Europa Conference League goals this season, but five of those goals have come against Aston Villa with a hattrick in the first leg, and he needed just ten minutes to extend the Greek side’s aggregate score line with the opening goal on the night with a tap in.

Although Emery’s team dominated The possession on the night, they failed to utilize it effectively, nor were they able to turn it into goals.

However, El Kaabi doubled his and the team’s tally with eight minutes remaining by putting a shot beyond Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Aston Villa have now been denied the opportunity to reach their first European final since winning the European Cup in 1982.

Olympiacos will now face Italian side Fiorentina for their first European final at on 29 May. The result also means that there is no English club side in any of the European finals for the first time in 4 seasons. Aston Villa will also now focus on their remaining Premier League matches.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu