let the ghosts of last season come back and haunt them as they fell 1-0 to Olympiacos in a tense Europa Conference League final in Athens - with Ayoub El Kaabi La Viola had lost 2-1 to in last year’s final in Prague, going down to a goal in the final minute to signal a numbing defeat; but after toiling away this season, they hauled themselves back into the final to give themselves a second bite at the cherry against the Greek side who are always feared in European competition. A cagey opening few minutes almost went Olympiacos’ way when raced in behind Dodo, but his shot was turned around the post; whilst Fiorentina almost dealt the first blow when Nikola Milenkovic turned home but he was ruled offside. It was an end-to-end game - as finals usually are - but Fiorentina really should have taken the lead with two golden-edged chances.
Giacomo Bonaventura went through with a half-chance but his dinked effort couldn’t beat youngster Konstantinos Tzolakis, whilst Nico Gonzalez failed to turn home just moments later. El Kaabi should have scored on the half-turn; a name that fans will have nightmares about, but he couldn’t get the ball under control for large portions of the evening. From there, the concentration of both clubs set in and there was little happening at both ends - but Gonzalez once again missed the chance to become a hero when Christian Kouame headed back to him across goal but he edged his effort into no-mans-land.
Little happened in the minutes leading up to.
