Olympiakos vs Fiorentina Preview & Prediction | 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League | Final

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It is already a remarkable achievement for Olympiakos to become the second team ever to reach a European final but the Greek giants have the chance to completely re-write the history books with a victory against Fiorentina this week.

KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Wednesday 29^th May, 2024 - UK – 20:00 / US EST – 15:00 / US PST – 13:00

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: This match will be televised live on TNT Sports in the UK. / This match will not be televised live in the US.

HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: This match will be streamed live via Discovery+ or the TNT Sports app in the UK. / This match can be streamed live via Paramount+, TUDN, Fubo, DirecTV Stream and ViX in the US.

OLYMPIAKOS PREVIEW: A POTENTIALLY FAMOUS NIGHT

Panathinaikos reached the 1971 European Cup final where they lost to Ajax at Wembley in London but Olympiakos’ achievement of reaching the UEFA Europa Conference League final, in an era in with the Greek Super League is so far behind and there isn’t as much of a level playing field as there was could easily rival that.

Last season’s UEFA Europa League winning coach, Jose Luis Mendilibar, arrived mid-way through the campaign and immediately improved performances. Their remarkable comeback in the Round of 16, from 4-1 down at home in the first-leg to winning 7-5 on aggregate, was followed up famous but entertaining performances against both Fenerbahce and Aston Villa. They have, though, remained behind both PAOK Salonika and AEK Athens domestically.

FIORENTINA PREVIEW: AVOIDING ANOTHER FINAL FAILURE

Last season, Vincenzo Italiano led Fiorentina to the final of both the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Europa Conference League, where they lost both showpiece events. This time around, they were beaten in the semi-finals of the cup so will hope that the difference in terms of their European competition performance will be that they avenge their defeat to West Ham United this time.

As they travel to the Greek capital, Vincenzo Italiano’s I Viola come into this one on the back of what has potentially been a slightly underwhelming Serie A campaign in which they sit eighth in the table. They are finishing the campaign strongly, though, with their 3-2 defeat of Cagliari in Sardinia last week, in Claudio Ranieri’s final ever game as a coach, meaning they have now suffered just one loss in their last seven and two defeats in their last ten across all competitions.

OLYMPIAKOS TEAM NEWS: THE IMPORTANCE OF EL KAABI

Jose Luis Mendilibar is dealing with one injury issue for the final as Argentine left-back Francisco Ortega is a doubt. The key focus for Olympiakos will be to expose Fiorentina's back-line to the pace and pressure of this season's UEFA Europa Conference League top scorer Ayoub El Kaabi, with deft touches from the likes of Daniel Podence and Joao Carvalho essential to freeing the Moroccan.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Tzolakis; Rodinei, Retsos, Carmo, Richards; Hezze, Vicente Iborra; Fortounis, Carvalho, Podence; El Kaabi

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE: Ortega (Injured)

FIORENTINA TEAM NEWS: ATTACK MINDED FIORENTINA

There are a couple of big decisions for Vincenzo Italiano to make in his Fiorentina side this weekend with quite a few in-form attackers to leave out. The likes of Jonathan Ikone, Antonin Barak and Gaetano Castrovilli have performed well in Serie A but the trio behind Andrea Belotti remains likely to be Nicolas Gonzalez, Lucas Beltran and Christian Kouame.

PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Terracciano; Dodo, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Mandragora; Gonzalez, Beltran, Kouame; Belotti

UNAVAILABLE: Sottil (Injured)

QUESTIONABLE:

KEY STATS

• Olympiacos are competing in their first UEFA competition final and are only the second Greek team to reach a European final after Panathinaikos in the European Cup in 1971 (L 2-0 vs Ajax).
• Olympiacos will be the first team to feature in UEFA competition final in their own country since Marseille in the 2018 Europa League final (L 3-0 vs Atlético Madrid in Lyon).
• The last team to win a major UEFA competition final in their own country was Feyenoord in the 2002 UEFA Cup (W 3-2 vs Dortmund in Rotterdam).
• Olympiacos have won 11 matches in UEFA competition this season. This is their highest total in a single season.
• Olympiacos have won seven of their last nine UEFA competition matches (L2).
• Olympiacos have scored 38 goals in UEFA competition this season. Their previous highest tally in a single season was 24 (2018/19 and 2019/20).
• Ayoub El Kaabi has scored 15 goals in his 18 UEFA club competition appearances this season, the most by an African player in a single campaign.
• Ayoub El Kaabi is the top scorer in the Europa Conference League this season with ten goals, despite not playing in the group stage as Olympiacos were in the Europa League.
• Olympiacos have played five competitive matches at the new AEK Arena – all against AEK Athens (W1 D2 L2).
• Fiorentina will be the ninth different Italian club that Olympiacos have faced in UEFA competition after Atalanta, Cagliari, Juventus, Lazio, Milan, Napoli, Roma and Sampdoria.
• Olympiacos have lost six of their last seven UEFA competition matches against Italian clubs (W1).
• Olympiacos have lost only two of their last 12 matches in all competitions (W8 D2).
• José Luis Mendilibar has now reached two different UEFA competition finals in successive seasons with different clubs having previously led Sevilla to the Europa League title last season.
• At the age of 63 years and 76 days on the date of the final, José Luis Mendilibar could be the oldest coach to win the Europa Conference League, beating the record of David Moyes (60y 43d – West Ham 2023).

• Fiorentina will be the first team to compete in two UEFA Europa Conference League finals. The Italian club lost 2-1 against West Ham in last season’s final.
• Fiorentina were also the first team to compete in two Cup Winners’ Cup finals back in 1961 (W vs Rangers) and 1962 (L vs Atlético Madrid) and are competing in European finals in successive seasons for the second time.
• Fiorentina are through to their sixth UEFA club competition final. Their only success in the previous five was in the 1961 Cup Winners’ Cup final against Rangers.
• Fiorentina are the only club to make it to the final of the four major UEFA club competitions: the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League and the defunct European Cup Winners' Cup.
• Fiorentina are unbeaten in their last 13 European matches (W7 D6). This is their longest unbeaten run in UEFA competition history.
• Fiorentina have only failed to score in two of their last 27 UEFA competition matches.
• Fiorentina have played three UEFA competition matches in Greece with a record of one win and two draws; D 1-1 vs AEK Athens (2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage), W 1-0 vs PAOK (2014/15 Europa League group stage) and D 0-0 vs PAOK (2016/17 Europa League group stage).
• Fiorentina have won the most matches (16) and scored the most goals (62) in UEFA Europa Conference League history (group stage onwards). Their total of 62 goals is 20 more than any other team (Gent are next with 42).
• This is the first time Fiorentina have met a Greek team in a UEFA knockout phase match. All their previous five encounters were in group stages.
• Vincenzo Italiano is the first coach to lead Fiorentina into two UEFA finals.
• At the age of 46 years and 171 days on the date of the final, Vincenzo Italiano could be the youngest coach to win the Europa Conference League, beating the record of José Mourinho (59y 119d – Roma 2022).
• Victory for Fiorentina would see two Italian clubs win major UEFA club competition finals in the same season for the first time since 1998/99 when Parma won the UEFA Cup and Lazio won the Cup Winners’ Cup.

OLYMPIAKOS VS FIORENTINA PREDICTION

What we could well have here is a genuine thriller. Played at the Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, the home of AEK, there will be thousands of Olympiakos fans making the journey inside and outside the stadium from just down the road in Piraeus. They have played a front foot style with genuine intensity to everything they have done under Mendilibar and it has produced a lot of entertainment. Fiorentina, in a similar way, attempt to play proactively and progressively under Italiano. Slight home advantage, albeit it is a neutral venue, and the concern that history could repeat itself might make many lean towards the Greeks for this one but one thing that is perhaps much safer to look at is the fact it could be a high-scoring final.

OLYMPIAKOS VS FIORENTINA TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE