Olympiacos have a chance to become the first Greek club to win a European trophy in Wednesday\u2019s Europa Conference League final, but they face a Fiorentina side still smarting from their defeat in last season\u2019s decider.
\nJose Luis Mendilibar, who took charge of Olympiacos in February, is hoping he can repeat his achievements from last season when he became Sevilla manager late in the campaign and led them to victory in the Europa League.
\n\u201cThe whole scenario is very similar,\u201d Mendilibar said in an interview with UEFA.
\n\u201cSevilla were in a relegation battle, we weren\u2019t here at Olympiacos, but expectations here are sky high and we weren\u2019t meeting them.
\n\u201cWe couldn\u2019t win the league but we could win in Europe, like we did at Sevilla.\u201d
\nOlympiacos began the season in the Europa League, but exited at the group stage and Mendilibar\u2019s first game in charge was at the beginning of their Conference League run, a knockout-round playoff win over Ferencvaros. Now he is hoping to make history with the club.
\n\u201cIt would be amazing. We\u2019d go down in Olympiacos and Greek football history,\u201d the manager said.
\n\u201cWe know it\u2019ll be very tough against an Italian side who compete at the top, but you never know in finals, they\u2019re anyone\u2019s game.\u201d
\nAyoub El Kaabi is the player Olympiacos will look to for goals. The Moroccan is the competition\u2019s highest scorer this season despite his side not being involved at the group stage, netting 10 times in eight games.
\nA player Fiorentina fans will recognise is the Greek side\u2019s forward Stevan Jovetic, who spent five seasons in Florence, and the Montenegrin could be sprung from the bench to break his former club\u2019s hearts.
\nOlympiacos will be looking to repeat the success of their own youth team, who beat AC Milan last month to become the UEFA Youth League champions.
\nFiorentina are no stranger to finals, and after losing two last season they will be desperate to put things right and lift a trophy for the first time since 2001.
\nFiorentina, the first Italian club to win a European trophy when lifting the inaugural Cup Winners\u2019 Cup in 1961, have yet to repeat that success.
\nThey came close last season, losing the Conference League final 2-1 to West Ham, conceding a 90th minute goal when the tie looked destined for extra-time.
\n\u201cWe had the match point in the closing minutes, after we equalised thanks to Giacomo Bonaventura,\u201d manager Vincenzo Italiano told UEFA.
\n\u201cUnfortunately, in these matches, the devil\u2019s in the detail. The slightest lapse in concentration can lead to errors and you have to be perfect.\u201d
\nFiorentina, who also lost the Coppa Italia final last year, are unbeaten in Europe this season, but their captain Cristiano Biraghi knows they face a tough task, and they also want to win for their late general manager Joe Barone, who died in March.
\n\u201cBetween the first and second legs, they scored six goals against Aston Villa who finished fourth in the Premier League,\u201d Biraghi told Reuters.
\n\u201cWe made a promise to Joe, now we hope to be able to honour it. What I can say is that we will put everything we have on the field to make that happen.\u201d
\n(Reuters)trophy. Olympiacos, Fiorentina, Europa Conference League<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Olympiacos has a chance to become the first Greek club to win a European trophy in the Europa Conference League final. Jose Luis Mendilibar, the manager, hopes to repeat his success from last season when he led Sevilla to victory in the Europa League. Olympiacos will rely on Ayoub El Kaabi for goals, while Fiorentina will be looking to win a trophy for the first time since 2001. Fiorentina’s captain, Cristiano Biraghi, is determined to honor their late general manager by giving their all on the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":13443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2337,3323,9445,1221,426,2542,11460,3185,5332,8772,9444,1036,201,4818,6626,2515,11461,336,8654,8856,658,4407,5525,387,7776,2446,1346,9441,348,6238,9856,6928,421,618,9442,9868,4560,6305,5082,5447],"class_list":["post-13442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-aston-villa","tag-athens","tag-ayoub-el-kaabi","tag-campaign","tag-competition","tag-conference","tag-conference-league","tag-defeat","tag-errors","tag-europa-conference-league","tag-europa-conference-league-final","tag-europa-league","tag-europe","tag-expectations","tag-fans","tag-february","tag-fiorentina","tag-football","tag-former-club","tag-goals","tag-history","tag-hope","tag-interview","tag-lost","tag-march","tag-match","tag-meeting","tag-olympiacos","tag-premier-league","tag-search","tag-season","tag-six","tag-sports","tag-top","tag-uefa","tag-unbeaten","tag-victory","tag-who","tag-winners","tag-youth"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n