Sad News as Villa crash out of Europe to Olympiakos in the Semi-Finals

Sad News as Villa crash out of Europe to Olympiakos in the Semi-Finals

Olympiakos got it right at Villa Park and in Greece last night,

while Villa were very poor defensively in the first leg and created very little in the second.

Some will blame it on our injuries, others on a lack of experience, and still others will say we weren’t good enough.

Whatever the reason, Villa was eliminated from Europe in the Semi-Final because they were second-best over two legs.

It’s an odd sensation to be both proud and let down.

To be honest, I thought this was our greatest chance to win a trophy this season.

Unlike others, I never believed that we would win unless we had our best lineup available, but thus far,

this season has been an incredible journey that I am enjoying.

I’m hoping the league can figure out a way for us to cross the finish line and earn a Champions League spot.

Report: Olympiakos 2 (6) Aston Villa 0 (2)

Unai Emery made two changes to the team that was defeated by Brighton over the weekend: Emiliano Martínez came back,

and Robin Olsen was benched. Morgan Rogers was hurt, thus Matty Cash also started.

Still unable to be found were the injured Youri Tielemans.

Walking out of Villa Park last Thursday, I felt very little hope, but a week is a long time,

and I went into this game thinking we would win, but I was constantly worried that we would lose.

Despite Villa’s strong start, my concerns were realized ten minutes later when Ayoub El Kaabi increased

the host’s lead against the flow of play. On the counterattack, Daniel Podence took advantage of Villa’s highline,

allowing El Kaabi to tap in and score his fourth goal of the game.

Olympiakos settled in deeper, aware that all they needed to do was maintain their position and that,

even if Villa was still in the lead, there were not many opportunities.

Moussa Diaby made some noteworthy efforts in the first forty-five minutes,

but Konstantinos Tzolakis sprang from his line to deny the Frenchman.

Leon Bailey curled his shot wide of the post in injury time, forcing the Greek goalie to make another save.

With 12 minutes remaining, the home team increased their lead as Villa’s highline was once again exploited,

and Villa began to lose hope as the clock ran out. El Kaabi delivered it once more, beating the offside trap to secure their spot in the championship game.

Ollie Watkins nearly made it.

What the manager said

Emery: “We’d like to congratulate our supporters. They arrived here nicely and were constantly there to help us.

This year, we had the opportunity to visit Europe and were enjoying it with them.

But winning is really challenging. We are in the semi-final,

but we have to concede that they should be in the championship game.

“We lost in the first ninety minutes at home; we somewhat lost emotional control.

Even though they scored a goal, we got off to a strong start today and were essentially in control of the game.

“We lacked clinical behavior, and time was battling with us.” Although we lost today,

we are still learning. It’s a first for us in a very long time.

“Next year, we’re going to do it again in Europe and

Up Next

At Villa Park on Monday night, Aston Villa will play host to Liverpool in the Premier League season finale.

Villa will play in the Champions League the next season if they win.

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