Unai Emery was outmaneuvered to miss out on a place in the European finals as Aston Villa’s exhausted stars fell short against a seemingly inferior opponent…
Aston Villa went into the Europa Conference League semi-final against Olympiakos as favorites, but found themselves on the brink of unexpected elimination before heading into their return trip to Greece.
A week ago at Villa Park, Olympiakos coach José Luis Mendilibar put together a clever game plan and his players got the job done against a supposedly superior rival as the team made significant strides under Emery. He endured a rare off night in a season in which he had a hard time.
Villa, without first-choice goalkeeper Emiliano MartÃnez, suffered the bulk of their misfortune with goals deflected, with Douglas Ruiz scoring “one of those games” which helped strengthen the Olimpia side. He contributed to the 4-2 defeat in the first leg against Kos’ clinical team. By the inspired hat-trick hero Ayoub El Kaabi.
Fast forward to tonight, Villa needed a near-perfect performance to overturn a two-goal deficit to reach their first European final since 1982.
From Villa’s perspective, there were encouraging signs early on. With the reinstated Martinez back in goal, possession seemed more secure, but Olympiakos supporters became nervous as their players dropped deeper and the prestigious visitors gradually increased the pressure. I was starting to.
However, the atmosphere inside the Georgios Karaiskakis Football Stadium suddenly changed in the 10th minute, and it all happened thanks to a single long ball to former Wolves star Daniel Podence on the left.
There were very few touches in the early stages, but this one long pass from Olympiakos exposed Villa’s high line, putting the defenders in a bad position and allowing Podence to advance towards the penalty area.
A desperate interception by John McGinn prevented Podence’s first pass, but the Scottish player was unable to prevent the ball from quickly returning to the winger. He sent a pass to left-back Cuini, who was overlapping, and Cuini’s pass to the back post eluded the extended Pau Torres and found the free El Kaabi.
The in-form striker was happy to make the most of the generous opening goal and slotted past Martinez to score his fourth goal in two games against Villa. Perhaps it won’t be long before Premier League clubs seek his services…?
It was another example of Olympiakos using quick interchanges to get behind their opponents and a high defensive line after coming close to scoring almost every time they attempted a similar attack at Villa Park.
Simple but highly effective, they no doubt could not have believed their luck when a similar development worked the same way in the return leg against Villa. Villa failed to learn from last week’s embarrassment and made it too easy for their opponents. A game plan that pays off.
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The goal didn’t change the course of the game too much, with Villa continuing to dominate possession and play some great football in the build-up. But more importantly, goalkeeper Konstantinos Tsolakis was not tested enough and remained inadequate when it came to finishing passes and shots.
Thursday night’s match comes as there have only been three previous instances in UEFA’s three cup competitions where a team lost the first leg at home by two points (or more) before progressing to the next round. Ahead of the game, Villa knew they were at a disadvantage. .
Mendilibar said before the match that Emery is the opponent’s “big weapon” and that he “100 percent believes” they can still defeat Olympiakos. However, their defensive cohesion only added to Villa’s frustration when El Kaabi struck again with 10 minutes left to score his fifth goal (32nd of the season) to make the lead six points. The nervous energy that remained within the players must have evaporated. A total of 2 wins.
This season has been a very difficult one for Villa. This is evident from Emery’s need to reduce his bench in the return leg, including two goalkeepers and an influx of academy players.
Given how quickly Villa have developed under Emery, it’s easy to forget that it’s only been around 18 months since Steven Gerrard stepped into the dugout at Villa Park.
Emery’s work at Villa further asserts that he is a great manager of the modern era, with many believing his European expertise will lead his blossoming side to European trophies this season. I was expecting it to be loud.
However, the 52-year-old’s side are short-handed and this defeat means they have won just one of six games in all competitions.
Villa have consistently achieved high results in the Premier League for most of this season, so a late-season slump (and Tottenham Hotspur’s more serious woes) means they can still finish fourth and qualify for next year’s Champions League. It is expected that it will be possible.
Olympiakos’ success in Europe this season is a foretaste of things to come, but this draw was a step too far for Olympiakos, who rode on their good fortune against Lille last week.
Few managers have a better track record in European competition than Emery, but Mendilibar, who won the Europa League with Sevilla last season, has outperformed his admired manager and led the Greek giants to their first league title. He carved his name into the legend of Olympiakos. European finals so far.
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Details: Aston Villa | Unai Emery
