Piraeus wins the conference league over Florence

Big celebration: Piraeus is the first European Cup winner from Greece.
European Union via Getty Images

It has been ten days since Olympiacos' last competitive match when the Greeks reached the first European title ever won by a Greek club in a convincing final at home to city rivals AEK. In the domestic league, a 2-2 draw against Panathinaikos sealed a somewhat disappointing third place in the overall standings.

Terracciano challenged early

However, this did not dampen the euphoria of many local Piraeus supporters. As usual, they attacked Jose Luis Mendilibar's side, who changed positions in three positions and who had their first good chance early on through Daniel Podence. Fiorentina goalkeeper Terracciano directed his shot around the post (fourth).

After a few turns of the hand, Fiorentina celebrated for the first time. Milinkovic pushed into the penalty area, but he was also offside, which is why the assistant raised the flag correctly (9th position). After that, the Italians, with Vincenzo Italiano placing his faith in former Stuttgart player Gonzalez as one of four new players compared to the 3-2 win over Cagliari Calcio, remained the slightly more dangerous team. However, Bonaventura failed to take the lead twice in a very short period of time (21st, 22nd), before his goalkeeper was able to excel again in the 25th minute against Daniel Podence.

Battle of attrition in the second round

However, no goals were scored in the first half, and even after the break it remained a fair tie. Great shots were sought to no avail; Gonzalez's failed effort in the 39th minute remained the last highlight for a long time in a final that now increasingly consisted of a draw. A battle of attrition was on the agenda.

Not more than an hour passed until things became dangerous again in front of one of the two goals. Dudu passed the ball freely to Kwame, but like Gonzalez, he did not hold the ball correctly (69). On the other hand, Iborra rose high after a cross from a free kick and narrowly missed the goal (minute 80), before passing another goal from the Saronic Gulf men into the goal of friend, foe and goal. Joker Andre Horta hit the dead ball again (84), and the match then ended in a scoreless draw in extra time.

The Kaabi scorer is finally immortalized

As in the regular season, the local team opened the second half. With a similar attempt to the first conclusion of the evening, Piraeus joker Jovetic made his first sporting mark, but in Podense style, he found his master in Terracciano (90th place). On the other hand, the same applies to Ikone, who also participated as a substitute and Tzoulakis succeeded in stopping him (110th place).

For a long time it seemed like a penalty decision – until Olympiacos striker Kaabi, who took his colors to the final with ten goals, became the hero: after a cross from Hezi, the targeted player threw himself into the relegation zone. The player pressed the ball with his head into the net (116). The VAR then checked the goal for several minutes to see if the Conference League's top scorer was offside, but the goal stood and ultimately decided the match.

Bitter history repeated itself for Florence, where the Viola actually won the final last year Lost late to West Ham United. Meanwhile, Piraeus celebrated a historic victory, becoming the first ever Greek club to lift a European title and roll into the city for a lavish night of celebrations.