The match between Olympiacos and Fiorentina will be the second European Cup final of the ending season. A week earlier, Atalanta Bergamo defeated previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League. The match will take place at the OPAP Arena in Athens.
Olympiacos
Olympiacos will make their debut in the final of a European tournament, while Fiorentina already has one international trophy, but it was won more than half a century ago – the Cup Winners’ Cup in the 1960/61 season.
Trilos ‘Legend’ (the nickname of the Greek club) became only the second Greek club in history to reach the final of a European tournament. The first was Panathinaikos Athens in the 1970/71 season. Then Οι Πράσινοι (the Greens) reached the decisive round of the European Champions Cup (losing to Ajax Amsterdam).
Olympiacos took only third place in the group. The team beat West Ham, Freiburg and Bosnian club Bačka Topola in the standings.
The Hungarian Ferencvaros managed to reach the last 16 of the tournament. Representatives of the Greek Super League defeated the Hungarian club twice with a score of 1-0.
On the way to the final, the Greeks lost 4-1 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the first match. In the rematch, they defeated their opponent 6-1.
In the quarter-finals, Olympiacos met Fenerbahçe from Turkey. After a penalty shootout, they became Aston Villa’s opponent in the semi-finals. Olympiacos reached the final, beating Aston Villa, which was considered the tournament favourite, with a total score of 6:2.
Fiorentina
The Italian team, which finished the UEFA Europa League group as the leader with 12 points, defeated Maccabi Haifa in the last 16 and Viktoria Plzen in the quarterfinals to reach the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, the Italian team defeated Club Brugge 5-2 and made a name for itself in the final, becoming a rival of Olympiacos.
The I Viola players managed to win first place in their group. The Italians beat such clubs as Ferencvaros, Genk and Chukarichki.
In the 1/8 finals of the tournament, the I Gigliati players defeated Maccabi Maccabi Israel and then Victoria Plzen from the Czech Republic. In the semi-finals, the Violets defeated Belgian Brugge.
Projected line-ups
Olympiacos: Konstantinos Tzolakis – Rodinei, Panagiotis Retsos, David Carmo, Keaney – Vicente Iborra, Santiago Heze – Kostas Fortunis, Chiquinho, Daniel Podense – Ayoub El Kaebi
Fiorentina: Pietro Terracciano – Dodo, Nikola Milenkovic, Lucas Martinez Quarta, Cristiano Biragi – Lucas Beltran, Arthur, Rolando Mandragora – Nicolas Gonzalez, Andrea Belotti, Christian Quame
Olympiakos vs Fiorentina Prediction
The Greeks are able to win thanks to the support of the fans in Athens. This is the main factor that can lead to the triumph of Eritrolefki (red and white) in the final.
The Italians will also fight for victory. Vincenzo Italiano’s team has shown quite effective performance throughout the season. Still, the Violets may be stronger in the end of the match.
Main – first half over 1 (0) at 2.1
Recommended – the second team will win the cup at 1.74
Score: 1-2
It will be recalled that on Wednesday, 22 May, Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen played in the UEFA Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
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