Olympiakos v Fiorentina: Europa Conference League final – live | Europa Conference League

19 minutes: Podence broke through down the left wing and fed El Kabi in the middle, but his low cross just couldn’t reach his striker partner, with the tournament’s top scorer yet to seize the opportunity.

17 min: Fiorentina are starting to get the upper hand here. Olympiacos haven’t done much since Podence’s early strike. “Olympiacos or Olympiacos, I just don’t get it,” Gary Byrne jokes, because someone had to do it.

15 minutes: …It ended with a goal kick, and Biraghi, with blood rushing to his head, kicked it so hard that it went over everyone’s heads and straight out of the field.

14 min: The Olympiacos defense came together and Kouame had the chance to grab the rebound and shoot from distance. The shot was no big deal, but the ball veered to the right and another corner kick was awarded. The final goal was disallowed. This goal was…

12 minutes: Mandragola attempts a Le Tissier-esque gentle curling shot from the edge of the box that always veers to the right but would have been a beauty had it hit the goal.

11 min: This match started great. Both teams could have easily scored already. It certainly won’t end scoreless. If it does, remember that there will be extra time and penalties.

9 min: Fiorentina attack with a short corner. Biraghi plays a one-two with Bonaventura and sends in a low diagonal ball from the edge of the box. Milenkovic gets to it from six yards out, dribbling past Tsolakis and into the net, but the referee and VAR immediately rule it offside.

8 minutes: Gonzalez and Dodo work in tandem on the right wing, putting Greece on a full rotation. The ball is hastily kicked out for the first corner of the game. And from there…

7 minutes: Chiquinho sends in a low cross from the left wing for Olympiacos. Mandragora clears it from a crowded box. There’s a great open atmosphere in this game.

5 minutes: Olympiacos win a quick corner kick, Fortounis plays the ball down the right to Rodinay, who is in space but can’t shoot. His low cross is cleared and Fiorentina counter. Kouame runs down the left wing and passes to Gonzalez on the right, who dribbles in and passes to Belotti, who slices wide to the left. If this continues, we’re going to have a lot of fun tonight!

4 minutes: Chiquinho passes to Podence on the left wing, who cuts upfield and fires a powerful ball from the left edge of the D. Terracciano sees the ball too late and flicks it round the right post.

2 min: A fairly unspectacular start, but Fiorentina dominated the early possessions. “We know the Guardian journalist can write in Greek, so let’s go with Ολυμπιακός.” Shhh, Joe Pearson, don’t give anyone any ideas. It’s hard enough working with those fat fingers.

Fiorentina scored the first goal. “If El Kabi scores 10 goals in eight games like Harlan, can we call this final Florence vs. the Machine?” Justin Kavanagh, guys. He’s here all week. Try the moussaka.

The team is out! Olympiacos are the designated home team and therefore get to wear their first choice red and white uniforms. Fiorentina also once wore red and white uniforms, but in 1928 some fool washed their uniforms in the River Arno and the colours blended into their now iconic purple. There’s a fine line between stupidity and genius, but either way, tonight they’re wearing their second choice white uniforms. The atmosphere at the AEK Arena is pressing all the right buttons for a major final, with fans from both teams roaring away forming a very beautiful sea of ​​red, white and purple. It’s not quite the same as Florence by the river all those years ago. We’ll be off in a moment.

Olympiacos striker Ayoub El Kabi was the top scorer in the Conference League this year. He has scored 10 times in eight games, significantly more than Fiorentina’s best player, Nicolas Gonzalez, who has four in 12 games, but the Viola have distributed their goals a little more widely: 12 Fiorentina players have scored goals this season compared to Olympiacos’ seven. So it’s a mixed bag.

Style guide. The Guardian, along with the BBC, appears to spell their Greek hero’s name as Olympiacos. Other editorial organisations have said “Punch line!” and spelled it Olympiacos instead. This includes UEFA, the Press Association (which provides an automated scores feed at the top of the page) and the club itself. So why do we do this? Let our style guru, production editor and fountainhead of all knowledge, Philip Cornwall, explain.

That’s debatable. Transliterations are always debatable. I inherited keywords written that way. We always use Kos for the island, not Kos. The 2000 Olympic champion turned 2003 drug test evader calls himself Kostas Kenteris. But if I didn’t have 64 other things to think about, I might change this to Olympiacos.

So there you have it. An answer to a question you probably never intended to ask. An answer I got at the cost of annoying the busiest guy in the entire company. I think he’ll forgive me in a month or two. That’s what I do for you, dear reader.

Olympiacos finished third in this season’s Greek 1 Super League due to a draw with Panathinaikos on the final day. The latest edition of the derby between the eternal enemies finished 2-2, with Olympiacos coming back from two goals down thanks to late goals from Daniel Podence and Stevan Jovetic. Podence was subsequently sent off, a move that does not carry over to UEFA competitions. After the incident, they made three changes to their starting 11, with Francisco Ortega, Chiquinho and Vicente Iborra coming on and Andre Horta, Joao Carvalho and Omar Richards dropping to the bench.

Fiorentina is yet to finish Serie A, hosting Europa League champions Atalanta on Sunday, but will likely finish eighth no matter what happens there. Their penultimate game was against Cagliari last Thursday, winning 3-2 after a Nicolas Gonzalez equaliser and Arthur’s penalty turned the tide in the final two minutes. The 13-minute Liverpool legend was one of four players called up to the starting line-up after that game. Nicolas Gonzalez, Lucas Martinez Quarta and Cristian Kouhame have also been called up. Jonathan Ikone, Luca Ranieri and Antonin Balak are on the bench, with Gaetano Castrovilli unavailable.

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