Olympiakos stormed into a twogoal lead at Villa Park and despite Ollie Watkins pulling a goal back before half-time and Moussa Diaby restoring parity after the break, the Greek side roused again to run out 4-2 winners, Ayoub El Kaabi helping himself to a hat-trick.
A frustrating night for the hosts was typified by Douglas Luiz's penalty miss on 84 minutes, the midfielder dragging his shirt over his face after squandering an opportunity to reduce the deficit.
As the last English team standing in a European competition this season, Villa were flying the flag on behalf of the Premier League.
The performance of their peers also means only fourth place will guarantee a Champions League spot next season, with the Bundesliga securing an extra place through the Uefa coefficient. It was why supporters had one eye on events at Stamford Bridge, given qualification for Europe's premier competition will be beyond fifth-placed Tottenham if they lost at Chelsea and again at Liverpool on Sunday and Villa win at Brighton. Supporters could glance at their phones for updates elsewhere but Villa's players were supposed to remain lasered in on the task at hand.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 03, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 03, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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