The second of three European Cup finals will take place this Wednesday and it is the ECL’s turn to take center stage. Olympiakos will have a sort of home advantage in this confrontation since their stadium is only nine kilometers from Piraeus, a nice bonus especially since this is their first participation in a European Cup final. Europe of any kind.
The fact that Olympiakos even reached a final is somewhat surprising as they did not have the best of seasons and finished the regular season in third place in the Greek Super League. Few gave them much hope against PL side Aston Villa, who had an excellent season themselves, but they beat them 6-2 on aggregate, a very impressive overall result. Before that, they also got the better of Turkish giants Fenerbahce, so they certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly by Fiorentina. That being said, they have a very poor recent record against Italian teams, losing six of the last seven meetings. Olympiakos’ recent form has been good though as they head into this final with a record of just two defeats in their last twelve competitive matches and their leader, Jose Luis Mendilibar, won the EL last year with Sevilla, so the Greek team will have confidence in the plan that their manager will come up with that day.
This is the second year in a row that Fiorentina have reached the final of this competition, having lost to West Ham in last season’s showpiece event. A victory here would not only make up for this defeat, but also end a 63-year wait for a European trophy of any kind for the Tuscan team. Fiorentina are also in good form heading into this match with just one defeat in their last seven matches and have the advantage of having already played in a final. Their recent record in Europe is very impressive as they are unbeaten in their last thirteen matches and will enter this match as favorites to win the trophy. The last three times Fiorentina played against a Greek opponent, it was always PAOK and they failed to beat them each time. Their journey to the final saw them get the better of Plzen in the quarter-finals, then win 4-3 on aggregate against Club Brugge in the semi-final.
Olympiakos tend to score late in games with their last five goals coming after the 60th minute and they have a man in form, the ECL’s top scorer this season, Ayoub El Kaabi, who has scored fifteen goals in the eighteen matches he played. The odds are in favor of the Italian team at 2:30 p.m., which is understandable given that this is their second final in a row. Their final league match was not played on the last matchday like every other Serie A team, meaning they still have one more match to play after this final. Whatever happens against Atalanta this weekend, Fiorentina are guaranteed to finish in eighth place, ensuring they will at least play in the ECL again next season. The Italian side have won two of their last five matches while Olympiakos have fared slightly better, winning three of their last five matches.
This will likely be a close game and under 2.5 goals are favored at 1.77, so there’s a good chance it will be a low scoring game, with 1-0 either side being the most likely outcome. There is a good chance that the match will also go into overtime and perhaps even go to penalties. Hopefully this second of three finals will be an entertaining and interesting affair for neutrals as well as Greek or Italian fans.
The odds may have changed since this article was written and published.
Last updated: 05/29/2024
