Olympiacos vs Aston Villa (4-2) LIVE commentary: Unai Emery needs incredible turnaround to reach European final – kick-off time, team news and talkSPORT coverage
Aston Villa will need to make an incredible comeback against Olympiacos on Thursday evening to reach the final of the Europa Conference League.
The Premier League side lost 4-2 at Villa Park in the first leg of their semi-final, giving them a mountain to climb in Greece.
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Unai Emery’s side followed up that defeat with another against Brighton at the weekend, but now they must bounce back to try and create a special European night.
Olympiacos have not played since their first leg victory and they will be confident of maintaining their two-goal lead to reach the final.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: Watkins aims for record
Ollie Watkins is having a memorable season in all competitions.
The striker is the fourth top scorer in the Premier League, with 19 goals and 12 assists with two games remaining.
In the Conference League, he added five more goals in nine games, putting him on the brink of a record.
If he scores in the second leg, Watkins will clearly become Villa’s top scorer in a single campaign in a major European competition.
He is currently tied with Gary Shaw and John Deehan but will overtake them with a sixth goal in Greece.
Emery will pin his hopes on Watkins to get the job done, however, Villa have a very difficult task to avoid being sent home.
Most read in the Europa League
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- Olympiakos met Aston Villa for the first time in European competition in the first leg. After their 4-2 victory, the Greeks could eliminate an English team in
- Olympiakos have won three of their last four matches in European competition against English teams (1 defeat). In their previous 12 matches against such opposition in a major European competition, they had won just twice. Before the first leg at Aston Villa, Olympiakos had already faced West Ham United in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League this season (2-1 H, 0-1 A).
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: team news
Olympiacos will return Andreas Ndoj and Georgios Masouras after missing the first leg due to suspension last week.
Stevan Jovetic could be back from injury, however, Ruben Vezo, Gelson Martins and Nelson Abbey are ineligible.
As for Villa, they will be concerned about the fitness of Morgan Rogers after his half-hour substitution against Brighton.
If Rogers misses, he will likely join Nicolo Zaniolo, Youri Tielemans, Alex Moreno and Emi Martinez who are all still recovering from injury.
Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings and Jacob Ramsey will not play again this season.
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- Aston Villa have lost consecutive matches in the UEFA Conference League for the first time. The last time they lost consecutive matches in a season in a major European competition was in December 2008 in the UEFA Cup, and the only time they lost. a greater number of consecutive series in different seasons occurred in 1983 (3).
- Aston Villa’s 2–4 first leg defeat to Olympiakos in the UEFA Conference League semi-final was only the second time Aston Villa had lost the first leg of a knockout tie in a major European competition by several goals – they lost 1-4 at Royal Antwerp in the first round of the 1975-76 UEFA Cup and were eliminated after a 0-1 defeat in the second leg.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: What was said?
Emery admitted it’s been a tough week for Villa, but knows his side must now prepare for three crucial games.
“We have to try to understand our progress and our progression,” he said this weekend.
“I always try to learn with the players, with the club and try to use my experiences with them.
“We are having a very good season, enjoying Europe for the first time in a long time, we are in the semi-final, sometimes we make mistakes and lose.
“We need to think about the circumstances we find ourselves in. Today we are a little disappointed, a little frustrated.
“But we have to keep the balance, try to rest and be strong on Thursday, next Monday and against Crystal Palace.”
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- Olympiakos striker Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 win at Aston Villa in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League semi-final first leg – only the second hat-trick scored by an Olympiakos player away from home in a major European competition. (excluding qualifying) after Konstantinos Mitroglou in the UEFA Champions League at RSC Anderlecht in October 2013.
- Olympiakos have scored 16 goals in the UEFA Conference League round of 16 this season, more than any other team. The 4-2 victory at Aston Villa was the third time this season in a European competition that the Greek team had scored more than 4 goals (twice in the Conference League, once in the UEFA Europa League) – the only other time they have done so. arrived. in a single campaign in a major competition, it was in the UEFA Cup in 2008-09.
Olympiacos vs Aston Villa: talkSPORT coverage
This semi-final return of the Europa Conference League will take place on Thursday May 9.
Kick-off at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki is scheduled for 8 p.m.
talkSPORT will cover the match live, presented by Hugh Woozencroft.
Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and former Aston Villa midfielder Andy Townsend.
talkSPORT.com will also live blog all the action.
To tune in to talkSPORT via the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, via your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
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