UEFA Conference League 2023/24 Season

[imamusma]

It's the first time in a very long time a Greek team has managed to reach far in a European league and I think it's certainly the first or one of the very few times we see a Greek association on the final four.
So naturally even us Greeks that don't support Olympiakos normally are watching in excitement. Already scoring so many goals against a team famed and as big as Aston Villa is amazing, even managing to win in phenomenal.

Now it seems like indeed they have realistic chances. If they can take Aston Villa they could surely take on Fiorentina, not sure about Brugge which comes first in their national league but it seems like Olympiakos' coach is cut for european competition. It'll be an exciting match on May 9th.

Olympiakos has a big chance to advance to the Final, Aston Villa will find it difficult to overcome a 2 goal deficit in the away match, especially if the hosts implement a defensive strategy. However, Aston Villa will play more aggressively in the second leg, with the aim of equalizing first, and Olympiakos must avoid following the rhythm of open play. It is clear that Olympiakos has a realistic chance of advancing to the Final, but you still shouldn't underestimate the strength of Aston Villa. Many did not expect Aston Villa to fall at home with a big score, because previously many had placed them as the favorite team to win the Confederacy League this season. On the other hand, Fiorentina, who were finalists last season, will most likely reach the final round again after winning 3-2 in the first leg. If Olympiakos is able to maintain their level of play as in the first leg, they can even beat Fiorentina in the final.

[bitgolden]

Last season defeat in the final by Westham is certainly a lesson for Fiorentina this season not to make mistakes, last season Fiorentina made it to the final and I think they will be able to do it again this season, currently Fiorentina has a 3-2 aggregate advantage from Brugge, indeed mathematically Brugge still has a chance to qualify because they only need to aim for 1 goal to be able to make the match continue to extra time later,  But even so, of course Fiorentina had the advantage even though they narrowly won in the first leg, statistically in the first leg I saw that Fiorentina was superior on every line and I think Brugge was only lucky to concede 3 goals in that game.

Surprising results did occur in the Aston Villa match, from the beginning of the season of course Aston Villa became the favorite to win in the Conference League because indeed they were able to beat strong teams, not only in the Conference League even Aston Villa was able to surprise all of us in the English League, the defeat to Olympiacos made us all surprised because actually Olympiacos is not a strong enough team at this time,  So I think in the second leg Aston Villa still have hope will be able to turn things around later.

Fiorentina is strong enough to win it, but it all depends on who they face. They are facing Brugge right now, and 3-2 is a good start but it is not guaranteed that they will win the second leg and go to finals, they need to realize that Brugge is not a simple team, they are a good strong team and they have the possibility to do a lot better.

We should realize that we are going to end up with a problem on the other side too, sure Olympiacos won the first game, which nobody saw it coming, but that was 4-2 as well, meaning it is just 2 game difference and on the second game we could see Aston Villa go to finals, wouldn't be weird because they are expected to win. If all goes well, best case for Fiorentiona would be beating Brugge and then facing Olympiacos and beating them as well.

[Hirose UK]

It's the first time in a very long time a Greek team has managed to reach far in a European league and I think it's certainly the first or one of the very few times we see a Greek association on the final four.
So naturally even us Greeks that don't support Olympiakos normally are watching in excitement. Already scoring so many goals against a team famed and as big as Aston Villa is amazing, even managing to win in phenomenal.

Now it seems like indeed they have realistic chances. If they can take Aston Villa they could surely take on Fiorentina, not sure about Brugge which comes first in their national league but it seems like Olympiakos' coach is cut for european competition. It'll be an exciting match on May 9th.

Olympiakos has a big chance to advance to the Final, Aston Villa will find it difficult to overcome a 2 goal deficit in the away match, especially if the hosts implement a defensive strategy. However, Aston Villa will play more aggressively in the second leg, with the aim of equalizing first, and Olympiakos must avoid following the rhythm of open play. It is clear that Olympiakos has a realistic chance of advancing to the Final, but you still shouldn't underestimate the strength of Aston Villa. Many did not expect Aston Villa to fall at home with a big score, because previously many had placed them as the favorite team to win the Confederacy League this season. On the other hand, Fiorentina, who were finalists last season, will most likely reach the final round again after winning 3-2 in the first leg. If Olympiakos is able to maintain their level of play as in the first leg, they can even beat Fiorentina in the final.

What was really surprising about Olympiakos was that in the first leg they managed to get win by scoring 4 goals which was an away match for them.
Initially, many people, including me, made Aston Villa the favorite and believed that in the first leg match, Aston Villa and the home match would be able to win easily and have the opportunity to advance to the final, but everything did not match expectations.
I actually quite disappointed with Aston Villa who wasted this good opportunity, it just that for the second leg, Aston Villa only chance is to win with difference of 2 goals to be able to equalize the points on aggregate.
But I really worried about whether Aston Villa can get this win because this is an away match for them, if they can get it then there will be another chance for Aston Villa.
We see what happens, whether Aston Villa will be able to do it and make all their fans happy or not.

[armanda90]

What was really surprising about Olympiakos was that in the first leg they managed to get win by scoring 4 goals which was an away match for them.
Initially, many people, including me, made Aston Villa the favorite and believed that in the first leg match, Aston Villa and the home match would be able to win easily and have the opportunity to advance to the final, but everything did not match expectations.
I actually quite disappointed with Aston Villa who wasted this good opportunity, it just that for the second leg, Aston Villa only chance is to win with difference of 2 goals to be able to equalize the points on aggregate.
But I really worried about whether Aston Villa can get this win because this is an away match for them, if they can get it then there will be another chance for Aston Villa.
We see what happens, whether Aston Villa will be able to do it and make all their fans happy or not.

Olympiacos make us surprising after success defeating Aston Villa on first leg semifinal as away match, lead two goals after winning over 2-4 will make easily for defend the winning result on second leg match and Olympiacos will be host. I think Aston Villa have working hard for scoring goals on the early minutes in won't loss the first opportunity qualifying to final of UEFA Conference League with potential will be the winner.

Aston Villa is the only one Premier League teams left in European competition after some teams eliminating from Champion League and Europe League, its the latest hope for Premier League team want to see Aston Villa has chance reach to final round of Conference League or Olympiacos make the new history as Super League Greece teams success leading to final round.

[Google+]

Last season defeat in the final by Westham is certainly a lesson for Fiorentina this season not to make mistakes, last season Fiorentina made it to the final and I think they will be able to do it again this season, currently Fiorentina has a 3-2 aggregate advantage from Brugge, indeed mathematically Brugge still has a chance to qualify because they only need to aim for 1 goal to be able to make the match continue to extra time later,  But even so, of course Fiorentina had the advantage even though they narrowly won in the first leg, statistically in the first leg I saw that Fiorentina was superior on every line and I think Brugge was only lucky to concede 3 goals in that game.

Surprising results did occur in the Aston Villa match, from the beginning of the season of course Aston Villa became the favorite to win in the Conference League because indeed they were able to beat strong teams, not only in the Conference League even Aston Villa was able to surprise all of us in the English League, the defeat to Olympiacos made us all surprised because actually Olympiacos is not a strong enough team at this time,  So I think in the second leg Aston Villa still have hope will be able to turn things around later.

Fiorentina is strong enough to win it, but it all depends on who they face. They are facing Brugge right now, and 3-2 is a good start but it is not guaranteed that they will win the second leg and go to finals, they need to realize that Brugge is not a simple team, they are a good strong team and they have the possibility to do a lot better.

We should realize that we are going to end up with a problem on the other side too, sure Olympiacos won the first game, which nobody saw it coming, but that was 4-2 as well, meaning it is just 2 game difference and on the second game we could see Aston Villa go to finals, wouldn't be weird because they are expected to win. If all goes well, best case for Fiorentiona would be beating Brugge and then facing Olympiacos and beating them as well.

So far Brugge does have a lot of experience playing in the Champions League and also the Europa League, while this season is Brugge first season playing in the Confederations League, Brugge mentality in playing in European competitions so far is not in doubt but so far we have also not seen any extraordinary achievements from Brugge while playing in European competitions,  Fiorentina are not safe yet because they only narrowly won in the first leg but I think for now they have better hopes to qualify for the final, Fiorentina were able to perform quite well in the first leg but unfortunately they have a little weakness in defense so I think Fiorentina will be able to find the right solution to overcome this in the second leg, In the second leg Fiorentina only need to score at least one goal to be able to secure their escape, of course, on condition that they do not concede again.

The loss of Martinez had a huge impact on Aston Villa in the first leg match, Martinez, who had to be absent due to card accumulation, had to be replaced by Aston Villa second goalkeeper and as a result, 4 goals directly hit Aston Villa goal in the game, as a fan of English football, of course I hope Aston Villa can make a comeback in the second leg later,  Although difficult of course Aston Villa still has hope to do it, with a 2-goal advantage and playing at home, most likely Olympiacos will try to play defense so if this is done of course it will be easy for Aston Villa to exploit Olympiacos defense later, for the final later Fiorentina vs Aston Villa is of course the ideal final in my opinion but of course all possibilities can happen including what you said.

[Swordsoffreedom]

What was really surprising about Olympiakos was that in the first leg they managed to get win by scoring 4 goals which was an away match for them.
Initially, many people, including me, made Aston Villa the favorite and believed that in the first leg match, Aston Villa and the home match would be able to win easily and have the opportunity to advance to the final, but everything did not match expectations.
I actually quite disappointed with Aston Villa who wasted this good opportunity, it just that for the second leg, Aston Villa only chance is to win with difference of 2 goals to be able to equalize the points on aggregate.
But I really worried about whether Aston Villa can get this win because this is an away match for them, if they can get it then there will be another chance for Aston Villa.
We see what happens, whether Aston Villa will be able to do it and make all their fans happy or not.

Olympiacos make us surprising after success defeating Aston Villa on first leg semifinal as away match, lead two goals after winning over 2-4 will make easily for defend the winning result on second leg match and Olympiacos will be host. I think Aston Villa have working hard for scoring goals on the early minutes in won't loss the first opportunity qualifying to final of UEFA Conference League with potential will be the winner.

Aston Villa is the only one Premier League teams left in European competition after some teams eliminating from Champion League and Europe League, its the latest hope for Premier League team want to see Aston Villa has chance reach to final round of Conference League or Olympiacos make the new history as Super League Greece teams success leading to final round.

Olympiacos has definitely surprised everyone with the performance that they have given against Aston Villa. Now I believe that it is possible for Aston Villa to actually make a comeback. But the comeback is going to be really hard to pull off for Aston Villa. In recent times the performance from Aston Villa has been a little questionable. They have not been able to perform as well as they were doing in the English Premier League throughout the most part of this season.

Now I understand that a lot of people are actually thinking that Olympiacos is going to win on the aggregate score. And a lot of people are really excited about it. I do not blame them. I always love an underdog story and I am here for it.

[Palakka]

Olympiacos has definitely surprised everyone with the performance that they have given against Aston Villa. Now I believe that it is possible for Aston Villa to actually make a comeback. But the comeback is going to be really hard to pull off for Aston Villa. In recent times the performance from Aston Villa has been a little questionable. They have not been able to perform as well as they were doing in the English Premier League throughout the most part of this season.

Now I understand that a lot of people are actually thinking that Olympiacos is going to win on the aggregate score. And a lot of people are really excited about it. I do not blame them. I always love an underdog story and I am here for it.

Being an underdog against Aston Villa, of course, it is unexpected if Olympiacos can show their toughness, before the match starts, of course we all here will think if Aston Villa gets an easy opponent in the semifinals, but in fact at this time all predictions have been refuted and Aston Villa is now in a difficult position after they lost with a score of 2-4 at home,  The chance to turn things around is of course still for Aston Villa in the second leg later but their have to work extra hard to be able to get it other than hoping luck will be on their side later when playing at home to Olympiakos, at this time of course Olympiacos have set one foot in the final and they only need to get a draw or at least lose 1 second leg goal later to be able to secure a final ticket this season.

I  believe that Aston Villa will be able to make a comeback in second leg match even though it may be a bit difficult, but we know if Aston Villa can play normally then we can say that two goals on aggregate are not difficult for them to chase, but only a little bit of my fear in the second leg will be if Aston Villa still continues the negative trend like in the current league and of course it might make Aston Villa have to end their journey as one of the favourites to win the Conference League this season is early, but if Aston Villa can rise and do what they did like against Ajax, of course the hope of seeing Aston Villa win the Conference League this season is still wide open for their.

[el kaka22]

Olympiacos basically showed the world that when it's about just few games, every team has a chance and that is what matters. Looking at the strength of Olympiacos, they are not really exceptionally good team, they do not really have anything that would be all that great, they are not really playing all that crazy well, they are just doing whatever they can with what they have, Villa is a much much richer team and they have a squad that "worths" more than Olympiacos.

But, when it is just one or two games we are talking about, things do not have that much gap, sure if these two teams played in a league and played 36 games, Villa would come out on top for sure, I have zero doubt about that, but when it's just two games, we can see that Olympiacos at least has a chance.

[Velvet78]

Fiorentina have made it to the finale! Actually it was really looking like Club Brugge were going to carry it to extra time. But that goal by Fiorentina in the last minutes was a big hit to Club Brugge's hopes.

Still they fought really well. Now we see Fiorentina in the Conference League finale two times in a row. The first one didn't end well by a loss against West Ham. This time the opponent is quite likely to be Olympiacos. It is going to be quite surprising to see them though. Unless Aston Villa improve their game tonight. Technically there is still a big strength gap but Aston Villa just look unpredictable at the moment. They were terrible at defending.

I would still rather see Aston Villa making it. While the manager is Emery I would still expect anything. 

[bering]

Fiorentina have made it to the finale! Actually it was really looking like Club Brugge were going to carry it to extra time. But that goal by Fiorentina in the last minutes was a big hit to Club Brugge's hopes.

Still they fought really well. Now we see Fiorentina in the Conference League finale two times in a row. The first one didn't end well by a loss against West Ham. This time the opponent is quite likely to be Olympiacos. It is going to be quite surprising to see them though. Unless Aston Villa improve their game tonight. Technically there is still a big strength gap but Aston Villa just look unpredictable at the moment. They were terrible at defending.

I would still rather see Aston Villa making it. While the manager is Emery I would still expect anything. 

I didn't realized the match Fiorentina vs Club Brugge was held yesterday and indeed this result is according to people prediction because Fiorentina is the favourite and it just happend yesterday that after playing draw at Club Brugge home ground for second leg then Fiorentina can able to advances to the final match and they were successfully to repeat their last season achievement and i am sure Fiorentina will be so curious want to gets the trophy from this competition because last season they have failed because beated by West Ham

Aston Villa lost in the first leg from Olympiacos is really dissapointing because Aston Villa have failed to utilized their home match even they have to conceded 4 goals and indeed previously i expect Aston Villa will be advances to the final and fight against Fiorentina but seems it's hard because at Olympiacos home ground Aston Villa should be win with 3 goals margin or more and actually Olympiacos at home is not too strong because in this competition Olympiacos was lost several times even at round of 16 Olympiacos was lost with big scores from Maccabi Tel Aviv so maybe Aston Villa have realized this records and although it's hard probably Aston Villa can reversing the situation

[Altryist]

Fiorentina have made it to the finale! Actually it was really looking like Club Brugge were going to carry it to extra time. But that goal by Fiorentina in the last minutes was a big hit to Club Brugge's hopes.

Still they fought really well. Now we see Fiorentina in the Conference League finale two times in a row. The first one didn't end well by a loss against West Ham. This time the opponent is quite likely to be Olympiacos. It is going to be quite surprising to see them though. Unless Aston Villa improve their game tonight. Technically there is still a big strength gap but Aston Villa just look unpredictable at the moment. They were terrible at defending.

I would still rather see Aston Villa making it. While the manager is Emery I would still expect anything. 

Emery has a lot of experience in the playoffs, and such a defeat to Olympiacos looks unexpected. And now that Olympiacos has a two-goal lead going into the home game, I think Aston Villa have almost no chance of reaching the final. I agree that Aston Villa are a stronger club, but their defense at home was too poor, which hurt their chances significantly. Today they need to win by at least two goals to have any hope of extra time, but I think Olympiacos will focus on defense and be able to reach the final.

[Odohu]

Olympiakos has a big chance to advance to the Final, Aston Villa will find it difficult to overcome a 2 goal deficit in the away match, especially if the hosts implement a defensive strategy. However, Aston Villa will play more aggressively in the second leg, with the aim of equalizing first, and Olympiakos must avoid following the rhythm of open play. It is clear that Olympiakos has a realistic chance of advancing to the Final, but you still shouldn't underestimate the strength of Aston Villa. Many did not expect Aston Villa to fall at home with a big score, because previously many had placed them as the favorite team to win the Confederacy League this season. On the other hand, Fiorentina, who were finalists last season, will most likely reach the final round again after winning 3-2 in the first leg. If Olympiakos is able to maintain their level of play as in the first leg, they can even beat Fiorentina in the final.

For me I'm already looking beyond the semi finals because if Olympiakos can defeat Aston Villa first leg at Villa's home with even two goals margin, I don't see how they will not humble them when they visit Greece. That first encounter was a shocker to the English side and I never knew such a result was even possible. Aston Villa tried so well to come from two goals down to 2:2 before Olympiakos overpowered them by scoring two more goals to seal their fate. I'm not expecting much tonight, probably a 1:1 draw.

[onecall123]

Fiorentina have made it to the finale! Actually it was really looking like Club Brugge were going to carry it to extra time. But that goal by Fiorentina in the last minutes was a big hit to Club Brugge's hopes.

Still they fought really well. Now we see Fiorentina in the Conference League finale two times in a row. The first one didn't end well by a loss against West Ham. This time the opponent is quite likely to be Olympiacos. It is going to be quite surprising to see them though. Unless Aston Villa improve their game tonight. Technically there is still a big strength gap but Aston Villa just look unpredictable at the moment. They were terrible at defending.

I would still rather see Aston Villa making it. While the manager is Emery I would still expect anything. 

That penalty in the 85th minute secured Fiorentina's spot in the final. Congratulations to Fiorentina for reaching the Europa Conference League final once again. I'm hopeful they can clinch the trophy this time. Since winning the final has been a challenge for them in the past, and West Ham United out of the picture, it's their real chance to lift the trophy.

As it stands, Fiorentina will face Olympiacos in the final. Olympiacos has the upper hand, posing the biggest challenge for Aston Villa to turn things around in their favor. Can Emery's side bounce back from a two-goal deficit? I have faith in Emery's teams, but it's going to be a tough task.

[Sunderland]

For me I'm already looking beyond the semi finals because if Olympiakos can defeat Aston Villa first leg at Villa's home with even two goals margin, I don't see how they will not humble them when they visit Greece. That first encounter was a shocker to the English side and I never knew such a result was even possible. Aston Villa tried so well to come from two goals down to 2:2 before Olympiakos overpowered them by scoring two more goals to seal their fate. I'm not expecting much tonight, probably a 1:1 draw.

If you watch the 1st leg, Aston defense was very bad at that time and the Olympiacos strikers plays very well.
I still believe Aston can win by 2 goals or more today, Olympiacos is not a team that likes to play defensively.
And Olympiacos performance since the last season also still up and down, they are not the king of Greece Super League anymore
In the round of 16 they have lost 1-4 at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv, my guess is 1-3 or 0-2 for Aston.

[bering]

Olympiakos has a big chance to advance to the Final, Aston Villa will find it difficult to overcome a 2 goal deficit in the away match, especially if the hosts implement a defensive strategy. However, Aston Villa will play more aggressively in the second leg, with the aim of equalizing first, and Olympiakos must avoid following the rhythm of open play. It is clear that Olympiakos has a realistic chance of advancing to the Final, but you still shouldn't underestimate the strength of Aston Villa. Many did not expect Aston Villa to fall at home with a big score, because previously many had placed them as the favorite team to win the Confederacy League this season. On the other hand, Fiorentina, who were finalists last season, will most likely reach the final round again after winning 3-2 in the first leg. If Olympiakos is able to maintain their level of play as in the first leg, they can even beat Fiorentina in the final.

For me I'm already looking beyond the semi finals because if Olympiakos can defeat Aston Villa first leg at Villa's home with even two goals margin, I don't see how they will not humble them when they visit Greece. That first encounter was a shocker to the English side and I never knew such a result was even possible. Aston Villa tried so well to come from two goals down to 2:2 before Olympiakos overpowered them by scoring two more goals to seal their fate. I'm not expecting much tonight, probably a 1:1 draw.

Yesterday i thought Aston Villa can able to performing well and they can reversing the situations but clearly i was wrong because Aston Villa was performing poorly they even did same mistakes just like they showed in the first leg and Aston Villa defensive lines is still poor so although Aston Villa was dominate the match with 74% ball possessions but these statistics seems useless because they unable to broke the defense of Olympiacos and with counter attack scheme Olympiacos can scores 2 goals and eliminate Aston Villa with final aggregate 6-2

Olympiacos is not the favourite even since group stages they have already to lost several times but they can found their consistency and reach to the final match and for Aston Villa their status actually as Champion candidate but unfortunately their journey have to stopped at semifinal and for Olympiacos they has just made a history because Olympiacos as the second team from Greece who able to reach to the final match of European competition after Panathinaikos on 1977 and about the final match obviously Fiorentina is the favourite and let see it later whether Olympiacos can surprising us again by beating Fiorentina or not

[emrecemsan]

This guy scored 5 goals in total against Aston Villa in 2 matches.    It is really a superb performance.

I have never seen Aston Villa defense this vulnerable at the same time. I mean in the Conference League. They looked like the absolute title contender but here we are. I really wonder what was going on behind the scenes.

Emery couldn't prepare his players for the title target. They were actually in a safe condition in the Premier League. They didn't have a reason for their minds to be busy with some other thing. What is your favourite team to win the title now? I hope Fiorentina do this as they have qualified for the final consecutively. 

[Volgastallion]

What a shame it was the Aston Villa performance in this series man, a complete shame.
Olympiacos really deserves to go into the final and plus they are gonna play in home if im not mistaken.

Between Fiorentina and Olimpiacos i think FIorentina can be a feet foward but..... after how Olympiacos win against Villa maybe is Olympiacos the favorite or the big contender.

[execijutiere]

Olympiakos defeated Aston Villa at home to become another team to reach the final. Of course it was difficult for Aston Villa to qualify after their away win, but Aston Villa couldn't really do much during this match. Although Aston Villa played a better game compared to their opponent, they couldn't take advantage of the positions they found and unfortunately they were eliminated.The name of the final was Fiorentina-Olympiakos.If Fenerbahce had eliminated Olympiakos, maybe they would have qualified for the final and in case of a possible situation they would have won the cup.I think Olympiakos is the favorite against Fiorentina.

[marcous]

What a shame it was the Aston Villa performance in this series man, a complete shame.
Olympiacos really deserves to go into the final and plus they are gonna play in home if im not mistaken.

Between Fiorentina and Olimpiacos i think FIorentina can be a feet foward but..... after how Olympiacos win against Villa maybe is Olympiacos the favorite or the big contender.

It seems that Aston Villa failed to live up to expectations, even though Emery fleet was quite consistent in the Premier League, they were unable to convey the same performance when playing in European competitions. I think the problem faced by Aston Villa is mentality, the Premier League representatives do not have a winning mentality, so they failed to reach the final this season.

Olympiakos is clearly more deserving of winning the trophy, especially after beating Aston Villa in two legs, simply beating Fiorentina should be much easier to do. However, Fiorentina were finalists last season, obviously it will not be easy for Olympiakos, and I think the final match between Olympiakos and Fiorentina is quite ideal.

For Fiorentina, this final is an opportunity to make amends for last season mistakes, where their previous efforts were thwarted by West Ham. Besides that, I still didn't expect Aston Villa to be eliminated, even though in the Premier League they were even able to beat a team like Arsenal. Regarding the favorite team in the final, it is clear that Olympiakos is more worthy of winning the trophy.

[xzone]

What a shame it was the Aston Villa performance in this series man, a complete shame.
Olympiacos really deserves to go into the final and plus they are gonna play in home if im not mistaken.

Between Fiorentina and Olimpiacos i think FIorentina can be a feet foward but..... after how Olympiacos win against Villa maybe is Olympiacos the favorite or the big contender.

I didn't think Aston Villa would lose in yesterday's match. They already lost in the first match, they had to be much more aggressive and decisive yesterday. They had a very high rate of possession of the ball, but they could not score a goal, and on top of that, they conceded 2 goals. I had higher expectations for Aston Villa, I think there has been a big decrease in their performance in recent weeks. Let's see what they will do in the Premier League next season