GEORGIOS KARAISKAKIS FOOTBALL STADIUM — The road to Athens is no more for Aston Villa as they were bumped off at the penultimate stop by Olympiakos just 10 miles away from where the Europa Conference League final will be played later this month.
A marble statue awaits Ayoub El Kaabi, who scored twice a week on from his hat-trick at Villa Park – the Moroccan now up there with the Greek gods after five goals punctured Villa’s dream and ensured Olympiakos’ went on.
For a tiring Villa the wait for a first major trophy since 1996 goes on – the pursuit of Champions League football continues Monday – while Olympiakos’ biggest night in their history will be replaced by the next one in three weeks’ time, when they face Fiorentina in the final.
“We got to be in Europe at the end of last season and this year we enjoyed it but to win is very difficult and we are in the process,” said Villa boss Unai Emery.
“This is an experience for us at Aston Villa after a long time [of not being in Europe] and again we are going to compete in Europe next year.
“My message is clear. Move on.”
Olympiakos will have partied into the early hours, although one team was only ever going to properly start their celebrations on Friday. A 10pm kick-off would be a no-go from the outset in the UK, but here it made sense, suiting a culture that starts everything just that little bit later.
On Thursday, it meant more drinking time for some, and certainly more thinking time for all involved – Olympiakos cautiously optimistic going into their maiden European semi-final at home, 1,600 travelling fans praying for a miracle in Villa’s first away for 42 years.
The majority of fans took their seat more than an hour before kick-off, and as talk in Athens switched to action in the port city of Piraeus, the reality of that old cliché grew with the noise – that the first goal really was going to be crucial.
It took just 10 minutes to arrive, and went to Olympiakos, El Kaabi with a tap-in from Quini’s pinpoint cross, and that early setback left Villa requiring three goals just to get to extra time.
"We lost today, but we are in a process"
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It was going to take some effort, and though they dominated possession Villa struggled to carve out an opportunity, only testing goalkeeper Kostas Tzolakis for the first time midway through the first half.
Villa continued to huff and puff, but there was no fun to be gained from enjoying most of the ball. Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa headed over, substitute Jhon Duran tested Tzolakis, but with further bench options few and far between – Emery’s stretched squad meant his substitutes included five academy players and two goalkeepers – the belief evaporated before El Kaabi’s second extinguished it completely.
They’ve been to Edinburgh, Warsaw, Mostar, Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Lille and then finally Piraeus via Athens, but for Villa there will be no return journey to the Greek capital for the final on 29 May.
“I’m Villa till I die,” their fans sang after full-time, made to wait for the buses back to Athens – having arrived via police escort – and as they head back home the silver lining will be the cities they dream of visiting next season.
In that regard, there’s still work for their team to do. One more win will do it, or one more loss for Spurs, but after a deflating night Emery must lift his exhausted side back up. That race is not yet won, and may require one last boost to get over the line.
“Firstly get back to Birmingham,” added Emery. “Then rest and focus on the match against Liverpool. We are motivated and excited for it. We are disappointed but only one team can win, so for us to continue with the frustration doesn’t make sense.
“And we have to try and finish the season doing an amazing season, particularly if we manage to achieve the last objective. Even without it [Champions League] we are in Europe in the Europa League.
“We will go over what we have done in the last two legs against Olympiakos and try to learn and take positives from it, take the information from it. Take the experience. Recover, reset and move on.”
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