Uefa Conference League 2023, Fixtures, Results and News

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Europa Conference League draw:

Quarter-finals:

Club Bruges v PAOK

Olympiakos v Fenerbahce

Aston Villa v Lille

Viktoria Plzen v Fiorentina


Semi-finals:

Aston Villa or Lille v Olympiakos or Fenerbahce

Viktoria Plzen or Fiorentina v Club Bruges or PAOK


The Quarter-final 1st legs are scheduled for 11th April, with the 2nd legs on 18th April.

The 1st legs of the Semi-finals are on 2nd May with the second legs on 9th May.

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Thursday 11th April 2024 - Europa Conference League - Quarter Final - 1st Legs - Result

Aston Villa 2 (Watkins 13, McGinn 56) Lille 1 (Diakite 84)

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Ollie Watkins opened the scoring as Aston Villa won the first leg of their Europa Conference leg quarter-final tie against Lille

Report By Marissa Thomas, BBC Sport.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn gave Aston Villa a narrow first-leg lead over Lille in their Europa Conference League quarter-final as Unai Emery marked his 1,000th game as a manager.
Watkins scored in the 13th minute, left unmarked in the box to head in from a McGinn corner.
Leon Bailey then played the ball to McGinn from a corner and he doubled the lead with a fierce strike into the bottom corner in the 56th minute.
With six minutes remaining, Lille got a goal back as Bafode Diakite flicked in a header from Angel Gomes' cross.
Trailing 2-0, Lille thought they had got back into the game in the 67th minute but Gabriel Gudmundsson's finish at the back post was ruled out for offside after a lengthy review.
Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was in inspired form, denying Gudmundsson from a tight angle and getting down low to save Jonathan David's effort on goal.
In stoppage time, Lille substitute Yusuf Yazici curled just wide of the top corner as Villa endured a nervy end to the game, having been in control for the majority of the contest.
The second leg takes place next Thursday at 5.45pm as Lille look to overturn the one-goal deficit at Stade Pierre Mauroy.



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Villa boss Unai Emery recorded an impressive victory in his 1,000th game as a manager

Thursday 2nd May 2024 - Europa Conference League - Semi Final - 1st Leg - Result

Aston Villa 2 Olympiakos 4

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery told TNT Sports: "Congratulations to them.
"We didn't play like we are playing. We need to keep being consistent.
"They deserved to win. They are a good team. They have experience.
"It's not about luck. We didn't play well. We have to play better. They deserved to win.
On his message to his players: "Prepare for the match next Thursday. Try to play better, compete better."


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Aston Villa captain John McGinn to TNT Sports: "Not the game we wanted. We wanted a lot more control. We started the game well.
"They're a good side. We wanted a victory going to Greece. We showed we're capable of coming back.
"Mistakes all round tonight. We'll take responsibility but it's up to us to go to Athens and turn it around because we're capable.
"They played very well tactically. They played the way we expected so there were no surprises.
"Everything that could have gone wrong tonight did.
"The manager was still positive in there. There's still a long way to go.
"We need to play a lot better than we did tonight but we're more than capable of doing it.
"Hopefully we'll have a few players back. The onus is on us to attack Olympiakos and score some goals.
"We have a mountain to climb but we know we're capable."


Report By Timothy Abraham, BBC Sport.

Aston Villa's hopes of reaching the Europa Conference League final were hit by a chaotic semi-final first-leg home defeat to Olympiakos.

Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick, netting twice in the opening half hour as the Greek side took a 2-0 lead.

Ollie Watkins reduced the deficit for Unai Emery's side and Moussa Diaby equalised moments after the interval.

Olympiakos roared back in front with an El Kaabi penalty and a deflected strike from Santiago Hezze.

Douglas Luiz missed a late penalty which means Villa must overturn a two-goal margin in the second leg in Piraeus on 9th May to reach their first European final since 1982.

El Kaabi began the goal flurry with a clinical finish. It was initially disallowed for an offside, but that was overturned by the video assistant referee (VAR).

The Morocco striker added a classy second when he latched on to Daniel Podence's clever pass over the top and slipped the ball under Robin Olsen.

Watkins pulled a goal back for Villa in added time in the first half with an angled finish from just outside the six-yard box.

Diaby then levelled as Konstantinos Tzolakis was beaten at his near post.

Villa seemed to have the momentum at that point but were sucker-punched by their visitors.

Douglas Luiz handled a Panagiotis Retsos header and El Kaabi coolly sent Olsen the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick to take his tally to eight goals in the competition.

There was more than an element of fortune to Olympiakos' fourth as Hezze's speculative effort flicked off the back of Ezri Konsa to wrong-foot Olsen.

Douglas Luiz had a late opportunity to atone for his error after David Carmo felled Jhon Duran but, to the incredulity of the home fans, he failed to hit the target.

Thursday 9th May 2024 - Europa Conference League - Semi Final - 2nd Leg - Result

Olympiakos 2 (El Kaabi 10, 78) Aston Villa 0 - (agg: 6-2)

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Five of Ayoub El Kaabi's 10 Europa Conference League goals this season have come against Aston Villa

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to TNT Sports, says: "We got to be in Europe at the end of last season and this year we enjoyed it but to win is very difficult and we are in the process [of developing].
"They [Olympiakos] deserve to be in the final. We lost it in the first 90 minutes at home and we were not competitive. We started this first half well, they scored but we controlled the game but we were not clinical.
"This is an experience for us at Aston Villa after a long time [of not being in Europe] and again we are going to compete in Europe next year. Of course we are a little bit disappointed, a little bit frustrated but we have to move on quick. We started the first leg and maybe we were favourites but after the first leg we weren't.
"We have to try to finish the season and for it to be very amazing [if they qualify for the Champions League]."

More from Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to TNT Sports:
On how to bounce back after the last few results: "Firstly get back to Birmingham. Then tomorrow rest and Saturday we focus on the match on Sunday against Liverpool. We are motivated and excited for it. Yes today we are disappointed but only one team can win, so for us to continue with the frustration doesn't make sense.
"My message is clear. Move on and we have to try and finish the season doing an amazing season, particularly if we manage to achieve the last objective. Even without it [Champions League] we are in Europe in the Europa League.
"We will go over what we have done in the last two legs against Olympiakos and try to learn and take positives from it, take the information from it. Take the experience. Recover, reset and move on."



Report By Joe Rindl, BBC Sport.
Aston Villa's Europa Conference League run ended at the semi-final stage as opponents Olympiakos set up a final with Fiorentina.
Having lost the first leg 4-2, Villa fell to a 2-0 defeat in Greece to lose their tie 6-2 on aggregate.
Ayoub El Kaabi - who scored a hat-trick in the first leg - opened the scoring in Piraeus, tapping in Marin Ruiz's low cross in the 10th minute against the run of play.
Unai Emery's side dominated possession but lacked composure in the final third.
And El Kaabi benefitted from a tight offside call to double his tally with eight minutes remaining by latching on to a long pass forward and burying a shot beyond Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Villa were hoping to reach their first European final since Tony B*****'s team won the European Cup in 1982.
Instead, Olympiakos will play in their first European final at the home of rivals AEK Athens on 29th May.
And there will be no English club in a European final for the first time in four seasons.

Wednesday 29th May 2024 - Europa Conference League - The Final - At AEK Athens Stadium

Olympiakos Piraeus v Fiorentina - 8pm KO - Preview

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Olympiakos are looking to become the first Greek club to win a European trophy when they face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final in Athens on Wednesday.

Jose Luis Mendilibar's side beat Aston Villa 6-2 on aggregate in the last round to reach the club's first European final.

They come up against a Fiorentina side who are looking to avenge last season's final defeat by West Ham.

"It would be amazing. We'd go down in Olympiakos and Greek football history," said Mendilibar.

Spaniard Mendilibar led Sevilla to Europa League glory last season and took over at Olympiakos in February after the team dropped out of that competition following the group stages and into the third-tier Conference League.

After beating Ferencvaros, they overturned a 4-1 home defeat by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last 16 and then saw off Fenerbahce in the quarter-finals to set up the decisive meeting with Villa.

"Along the way, we've crossed the whole of Europe, playing against a lot of opponents," added Mendilibar.

"There are so many different moments and I think we could call it a marathon, and now we've reached the end."

As well as the Conference League, Fiorentina also lost the Coppa Italia final last year but are unbeaten in Europe this season.

Captain Cristiano Biraghi expects a tough test against an Olympiakos outfit who will be playing in their home city.

The defender added that the club, who finished eighth in Serie A, want to win for their late general manager Joe Barone, who died in March.

"Between the first and second legs, they scored six goals against Aston Villa who finished fourth in the Premier League," said Biraghi.

"We made a promise to Joe, now we hope to be able to honour it. What I can say is that we will put everything we have on the field to make that happen."