John McGinn insists Aston Villa ‘have a mountain to climb’ but AFCON overturns odds of beating Olympiacos next week… after the Greek side ended their hopes of putting end to 42 years of waiting to reach a European final

Aston Villa captain John McGinn says his side have a “mountain to climb” in Athens next week after losing 4-2 in the first leg to Olympiacos in the Europa League semi-final Conference – but they are “more than capable” of doing so.

It was a poor performance summed up by Douglas Luiz’s missed penalty in the second half. Villa had returned to 2-2 after the Piraeus side took a two-goal lead.

But then Moroccan striker Ayoub El Kaabi completed his hat-trick and Santiago Hezze scored from distance to make it 4-2.

Unai Emery’s men have work to do in the first leg next Thursday if they are to book their place in the final of the competition – which also takes place in the Greek capital. But skipper McGinn says Villa have not given up yet.

“We have a mountain to climb but we know we can do it,” said the Scot.

John McGinn believes Aston Villa can overturn a two-goal deficit next week against Olympiacos

It was a difficult evening for the Villans who were beaten 4-2 by the Greeks in the semi-final.

Unai Emery congratulated the visitors but said his team were “frustrated and disappointed”.

“They’re a good team. We wanted Greece to win. We showed we were capable of coming back. (There were) mistakes everywhere tonight.

“We will take our responsibilities, but it is up to us to go to Athens and turn the situation around because we are capable of it.

“They played very well tactically. Everything that could have gone wrong tonight did. The manager was always positive (in the locker room). There is still a long way to go.

Emery himself added: “We didn’t play the way we play. We must remain consistent.

“They deserved to win. They are a good team. They have experience. It’s not a question of luck. We didn’t play well. We have to play better. They deserved to win.

“We are frustrated and disappointed. We didn’t play well. We were playing so fast and we needed more passes to get into the box. They did well and we didn’t. Congratulations to them.

“But we will try to come back next week. These are the favorites.

Olympiacos scored twice in the second half after Aston Villa made it 2-2

Ayoub El Kaabi stood out, scoring twice early on before completing his hat-trick

Douglas Luiz apologized to fans inside Villa Park after missing a second-half penalty.

Olympiacos boss José Luis Mendilibar saw hat-trick hero El Kaabi take his tally to 30 goals this season.

“We were ourselves and played without having to think about our rival,” said the Basque, who like Emery tasted European success at Seville.

“We weren’t afraid of Aston Villa.”