Source: TheGuardian
Aston Villa v Olympiakos: Europa Conference League semi-final, first leg – live
Conference League semi-final updates, 8pm BST kick-offLive scoreboard | Read Football Daily | And mail TahaGood evening and welcome to coverage of Olympiakos’ trip over to Villa Park for the first leg of this Europa Conference League semi-final tie. Unai Emery’s priority is the Premier League but as a serial Europa League winner he knows how good continental success tastes; this really is a massive night in Aston Villa’s modern history, a chance to replicate the scenes taken in by West Ham last year. They’ll have to get through it without a major figure, though, with Emi Martínez, their chief mischief-maker, missing through suspension. Nervy, even just a little? They must be.The Greek side had their own penalty joy in the quarter-finals, beating Fenerbahce 3-2 in the shootout after Konstantinos Tzolakis, just 21 years of age, made three saves. Their season began in the Europa League and included a victory over West Ham, but they exited at the group stage before defeating Ferencváros, Maccabi Tel Aviv and the relatively star-studded Turkish outfit to get to this point. Villa have won all of their home games in this European run; a difficult night lies ahead for their opponents. Kick-off’s at 8pm BST. Continue reading......read full article
