Olympiacos’ conquest of the UEFA Europa Conference League championship on May 29, 2024, is above all a unique story in European football history. By beating Fiorentina at the OPAP Arena in the Nea Filadelfeia district of Athens, Olympiacos became the first team in 13 years to win a European trophy without playing in one of the “Big Four” European national leagues, namely, in the English, German, Italian and Spanish top-flight championships.
The previous team to achieve this feat was Porto, which lifted the Europa League cup in 2011.
This triumph marks a golden page in Olympiacos’ history – a history that the club “wrote” in a unique way. No other European club has won a European trophy by changing three coaches and two sports directors during the same season, as well as adding nine players in the previous January signing “window”.
Only Olympiacos can achieve such a feat. Had any other club made the decisions that led to Olympiacos’ triumph in 2023-24, it’s highly likely that they would have suffered a complete failed season.
The only ones who believed
This triumph, nevertheless, has many intricacies. Evangelos Marinakis’ belief that a year that was going badly could end with a triumph was clearly decisive in January 2024. Where most people saw a looming failure, Marinakis saw a great opportunity.
At the end of January 2024, Olympiacos, after 19 games in the Greek Super League, was fourth in the standings, six points behind PAOK. The team had also been eliminated in Greek Cup play by PAOK – despite the reinforcement from the new transfers. One would have been disappointed, but not Marinakis.
Olympiacos exceeded the boundaries – a team that never shied away from challenges, never bent in the face of adversity and conquered the summit of Europe with faith, passion and unwavering will
Taking initiatives that drew some criticism, he decided in early February 2024 to bring back Darko Kovacevic as the sports director and to reach a deal with manager Jose Luis Mendilibar, who had won the UEFA Europa League with Sevilla a few months earlier. The Basque took over, replacing Portuguese manager Carlos Carvalhal, who himself had taken over from Spanish manager Diego Martinez in mid-December.
News coverage at the time claimed Mendilibar was hired so that he would have time to learn about the Greek Super League and prepare Olympiacos for the new season. However, Marinakis doesn’t believe a team’s season ends in January – and Olympiacos was lucky because the Basque manager concurred.
Having worked for years in lower leagues in Spain as well as with Primera Division sides (Eibar, Osasuna, Athletic Bilbao etc.) whose budgets aren’t comparable to Real Madrid and Barcelona, Mendilibar brought to Olympiacos all of his “sacred” stubbornness, convincing the players that with a great deal of hard work every dream is possible.
Olympiacos’ strengthening of its defense, thanks to the addition of David Carmo, along with better midfield play, thanks to the arrival of Chiquinho and Horta, resulted in two wins against Ferencvárosi TC in February 2024 in Europa Conference League play.
The night that changed everything
The key to understanding this incredible story will always be the night that Olympiacos lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv at its home field, the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, 1-4. The final score was somewhat of an illusion, as Olympiacos was not that bad, something that made that bleak night appear as even worse. The season seemed cursed, as in all the key games Olympiacos paid dearly for details and circumstances beyond the team’s control. For instance, Olympiacos had been eliminated by Panathinaikos in Cup play in a penalty shootout. The team had also lost a derby with rival Panathinaikos, due to disqualification, after a firecracker was thrown near the pitch. That loss had distanced the team from the top of the standings.
Mendilibar, however, did not lose his cool and told his players about Eibar’s wins against Barcelona and Real Madrid, which could not be explained away by mere “football logic”.
In the second leg of the knockout matchup in Israel, the Basque makes a rare decision, as he changes only the goalkeeper, using Tzolakis instead of Paschalakis, while lining up the same 10 who played in the first game: Rodinei, Ortega, Carmo and Retsos in the defence, with Hezze, Chiquinho and Horta in midfield, and Podence, Fortounis and El-Kaabi as the forwards. This “vote of confidence” is rewarded by the players with an unprecedented show.
Olympiacos leads 0-3 at half-time with goals by Podense, Fortounis and El-Kaabi and when Maccabi gets one back with a successful penalty kick by Zahavi, Olympiacos’ players aren’t disappointed.
El-Kaabi sends the game into extra time with an incredible “bicycle” kick in the 65th minute. Veterans Jovetić and El-Arabi then come off the bench to assist in one of the the wildest upsets in European football history.
Different protagonists, game-by-game
The confidence of all surged after that game. The team begins to find new protagonists in every game.
Against Fenerbahce in Athens, Olympiacos goes ahead 3-2 in what is Kostas Fortounis’ last truly great game. In Istanbul, Iborra, whom Mendilibar has helped to overcome his slump, is a “giant” on the field, while Tzolakis, the young keeper, makes history in the penalty shootout.
The Turkish team, which has won 1-0 in regulation time, sees Tzolakis block three out of four in the penalty shootout. Against Aston Villa in Birmingham, Olympiacos needs another over-performance, and gets it!
Throughout the past decade the Greek team has posted victories against Manchester United, Arsenal, West Ham, Tottenham and Burnley, proving that it doesn’t fear English teams. A “hat-trick” by El-Kaabi clinches a 4-2 win. In the rematch, Olympiacos picks up a 2-0 victory, with an unstoppable El-Kaabi the top player. However, the real MVP that night at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium are the fans, who watch this historic match standing for 90 minutes.
According to Aston Villa manager Unai Emery, it was impossible for Olympiacos to be eliminated in front of such a crowd!
Charting its own fate
The UEFA Conference League final, which will take place at the AEK Athens stadium, as it was scheduled from the beginning of the season, is a major chapter in itself.
Fiorentina manger Vincenzo Italiano’s team was a tough Italian side who a year earlier lost the UEFA Conference League final to West Ham by last-minute goal. The Italian manager had maintained that fate owed his team something. However, Olympiacos was determined to make its own fate.
Although the team appears slightly stressed, given that the final was taking place in Greece, the players remained very careful and focused, eventually overcoming the Italian club with a goal by El-Kaabi in overtime.
This prolific Moroccan forward has managed in just one season to become Olympiacos’ second highest goal scorer in European competitions, with 16 goals. It was only fair that he should be the one to seal the finale of this historic achievement!
The trophy held high! The moment marks a milestone, not only for the status and prestige of Olympiacos FC, but for all of Greek football. / EUROKINISSI
Many fans are crying with emotion in the stands, while half of Greece takes to the streets to celebrate until the morning. Dazzled news anchors on Sky News in the UK show footage from all over Greece and declare that they want to see how the Olympiacos fans will celebrate the Champions League!
Mendilibar, whose name is now being chanted by the fans, would simply tell them that every dream is allowed…
