Aston Villa saw their dream of a European final die with a whimper as they fell to a 2-0 semi-final second-leg defeat against Olympiacos.
Villa travelled to Greece knowing they had it all to do having suffered a surprise 4-2 defeat at home to the Greek side last Thursday.
Unai Emery‘s side started the Europa Conference League semi-final second-leg the better team but conceded against the run of play to a strike from Ayoub El Kaabi; who added to his hat-trick in the first leg.
The in-form striker doubled the lead on the night late on, beating the offside trap before a low strike beat the returning Emi Martinez.
From then, Olympiacos were happy to sit back and defend in their shape which caused Villa frustration to grow and they were unable to lay a glove on their opponents as they slumped to a 6-2 aggregate defeat.
Aston Villa player ratings in Olympiacos defeat
Here is how we rated the performance of the Aston Villa players in a disappointing night.
Emi Martinez – 6
Villa were boosted by the return of their World Cup winning goalkeeper ahead of the game.
Could do little about either goal and had little else to do but was very lucky to see the offside flag go up after rushing out his box to clatter an Olympiacos forward.
Ezri Konsa – 5
Endured a torrid time up against Brighton’s Simon Adingra on Sunday and struggled to make up for it as he did not put Daniel Podence under enough pressure as the winger crossed to make it 1-0.
Was also the player that played El Kaabi onside for the Olympiacos second.
Diego Carlos – 5
Due to the fact Vila played a back three, Carlos was allowed to follow El Kaabi into the midfield to nick the ball on a few occasions and generally handled the striker relatively well despite his brace.
Pau Torres – 5
Was favoured over Clement Lenglet having not played in the first leg and made a costly error in losing El Kaabi as he fired Olympiacos ahead on the night.
Matty Cash – 4
Started as a right wing-back with the switch to a back three but understandably does not possess the quality in the final third of the absent Morgan Rogers.
Stumbled when trying to get on the end of a Leon Bailey cross in the first-half which summed up a poor performance.
Lost possession seven times according to Sofascore.
Douglas Luiz – 5
A real tame attempt from a free-kick right on the edge of the Olympiacos area in the first-half. Recovered after a really poor first leg but still far from his best.
John McGinn – 8
Was aggressive and took responsibility in the midfield, winning tackles as well as being tidy in possession for the most part.
Also made an important intervention in the build-up to Olympiacos’ first and was unfortunate to see the ball rebound to an opposition player.
Won four out of five duels as the Villa captain battled to the very end.
Lucas Digne – 5
Was given licence to get forward playing a slightly more advanced role as a wing-back and took up some good attacking positions.
Neglected his defensive responsibilities as he was very slow to get back for El Kaabi’s first goal.
Moussa Diaby – 6
Playing from an inside right attacking position, Diaby had a few bright moments in the first-half and tried to make things happen for his side with little reward.
Was surprising to see the Frenchman replaced by Jhon Duran on 58 minutes rather than Cash.
Leon Bailey – 7
Was sharp to take a touch and get a pass off to Diaby before taking a heavy challenge that was pulled back for a free-kick right on the edge of the Olympiacos box in the first-half.
Flashed a ball across the face of goal that just needed a teammate to gamble and they would have had a tap-in on 40 minutes and also had a fierce effort saved well just before the half-time whistle.
Ollie Watkins – 3
Really quiet for the third game in a row with an intense season perhaps catching up with the striker.
Badly needs to find his form again to fire Villa to a Champions League spot in the Premier League but currently looks a shadow of the player fans have grown accustomed to seeing this season.
Substitutes:
Jhon Duran – 5
Tim Iroegbunam – 5
Omari Kellyman – N/A.
Finley Munroe – N/A.
Kaine Kesler-Hayden – N/A.
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