Aston Villa have mountain to climb after El Kaabi earns Olympiakos first-leg win

Aston Villa's attempt to make it to the finals of a major European tournament for the first time since 1982 did not go well. Unless they can come up with something truly remarkable during their next game in Piraeus next Thursday, their journey will likely result in disappointment.

Just a short while after the match ended, Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest, was enjoying the victory, exchanging high-fives with the energetic fans in the away section. Any worries about the referees had been put aside in this celebratory moment.

Olympiakos quickly gained a two-goal advantage. Even though Ollie Watkins managed to score one for his team before the half-time whistle, and Moussa Diaby leveled the score in the second half, the Greek team found their momentum again and finished the match 4-2. Ayoub El Kaabi was the star player, scoring all three goals to complete his hat-trick.

John McGinn, the captain of Villa, did not try to sugarcoat the situation. He straightforwardly stated that "everything that possibly could have gone wrong did."

Villa could be encouraged by the fact that the Greek team lost their advantage of three goals to Fenerbahce in the quarter-finals but were able to win by penalties. They also lost 4-1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last 16 and then triumphed 6-1 in the next match. McGinn said, "We didn't play well tonight but we have the ability to do better."

The night was very irritating, especially when Douglas Luiz missed a penalty at the 84th minute. The midfielder got really upset and covered his face with his shirt since he missed the chance to score and decrease the gap. To show that he was sorry, Douglas Luiz apologized to the fans by raising his hands as he left the pitch.

In a thrilling Europa Conference League semi-final first leg held in Italy, Fiorentina managed to secure a slight advantage over Club Brugge. La Viola took the lead merely five minutes into the game when Ricardo Sottil impressively scored. However, Hans Vanaken managed to level the score with a penalty kick after a questionable handball decision against Cristiano Biraghi was made twelve minutes later.

Just before the first half came to an end, Andrea Belotti scored a fantastic goal that put the home team back in the lead. Giacomo Bonaventura had a powerful shot at goal, but the keeper, Nordin Jackers, couldn't keep hold of it, which gave Belotti the perfect opportunity to finish neatly and score. However, the visitors' situation worsened when Raphael Onyedika received two bookings within three minutes and was sent off, leaving his team with only 10 players on the field. Despite this disadvantage, Thiago managed to strike back immediately and level the score once again.

The player M'Bala Nzola came on as a substitute towards the end of the game and scored the winning goal in the last few minutes of added time, neatly placing the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Fiorentina is predicted to have a small advantage in reaching the semi-finals of the Conference League for the second year in a row, however, there is still a lot left to be played in the upcoming game against Bruges next Thursday. This information comes from Guardian sports.

Rewritten: Picture courtesy of Image Photo Agency/Getty Images Europe.

On a night that was devoid of enthusiasm, Unai Emery managed to find a silver lining 125 miles away. Tottenham's loss to Chelsea means that Aston Villa could secure a place in the Champions League as early as Sunday. If Tottenham fails to win against Liverpool and Villa triumphs over Brighton, they will participate in the top-tier European competition for the first time since 1983.

At the moment, however, the main goal is to reverse the loss and win a trophy this season. Villa is currently the only English team remaining in a European competition, representing the Premier League.

The team didn't perform well in the match, being behind 2-0 in less than 30 minutes. El Kaabi was responsible for both goals. The initial goal was confirmed following a VAR assessment, demonstrating that Matty Cash allowed the striker to advance. El Kaabi landed the ball after capitalizing on Chiquinho’s skillful touch. Villa's defense wasn't able to keep up with their opponents' attacks. The second goal was the result of a smart pass from Daniel Podence, who used to play for Wolves.

During the match, there was a pause of about 30 minutes due to Francisco Ortega's injury. This allowed Emery to speak his mind to the players during this time. He got very angry with Douglas Luiz and started making angry motions. Then he spoke with Clement Lenglet and Robin Olsen. Olsen is an experienced goalkeeper from Sweden who played instead of Emiliano Martinez, who was suspended. Meanwhile, Marinakis, a large and strong man, was standing by the door of an executive box in the Trinity Road Stand.

The Villa team were extremely surprised but they soon got better before the break. Ortega seemed to knock down Leon Bailey in the penalty box but the Italian referee, Marco Guida, ignored the requests for a penalty. Watkins managed to score a goal and reduce their deficit with a perfect, first-time finish just a minute later.

The action started with Olsen, then Konsa made a pass to Cash, who then gave it to Diaby. Diaby then managed to pass it to Watkins.

The game's second half was held up due to a health crisis in the Holte End section of the stadium. The ambulance's flashing lights were still visible as the match resumed approximately five minutes after schedule. Aston Villa's team started the second half at a prompt pace as they did in the first, but this time, they were able to score with Diaby's goal from a difficult angle near Kostas Tzolakis's post. Bailey received Lenglet's cross-field pass and set up Diaby for the crucial goal.

On the sidelines, Emery showed his support by giving two thumbs up. However, shortly after, the referee blamed Douglas Luiz for handball during a corner and gave the opposing team a penalty. El Kaabi successfully scored from the 12-yard mark, leading to disappointment for Emery and his team.

"The Aston Villa team earned our respect, however, we weren't intimidated by them," stated José Luis Mendilibar, the head coach of Olympiakos. He took over as the third manager of the club in February.

Villa was very upset but things got worse when Olympiakos scored again in an unusual way. Santiago Hezze shot the ball from 25 yards away and it hit Konsa and went in a different direction than the goalkeeper Olsen expected. Olsen had moved to the left when Hezze kicked the ball, but even though he managed to touch it with his right arm, he couldn't prevent it from going into the goal.

The performance of Olympiakos at their home ground has been unpredictable, therefore Aston Villa has to make a remarkable effort to come back and qualify for the final. McGinn expressed that the challenge is tough, but they have faith in their abilities to succeed.