Olympiakos – Fiorentina: El Kaabi Helps Make History (1-0 A.E.T.)

Olympiakos made history as the first Greek club to win a major European trophy after a pragmatic tactical performance in which they were happy to sit deep and play direct in their 4-2-3-1 system. They kept the game tight, and eventually Ayoub El Kaabi provided the decisive moment in extra-time.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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The third Europa Conference League Final featured the most successful club in Greek history, Olympiakos, looking to become the first Greek side to win a major European trophy. Their opponents, Fiorentina, had been here before, having been beaten by West Ham in last season’s final.

Olympiakos were coached by last season’s Europa League winning coach José Luis Mendilibar. They lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape here, with a back four of Rodinei, Panagiotis Retsos, David Carmo, and Francisco Ortega. The double-pivot featured four-time Europa League winner Vicente Iborra alongside Santiago Hezze, while Chiquinho played as the number ten. Kostas Fortounis and Daniel Podence were the wide players, while semi-final hero Ayoub El Kaabi started up front.

Vincenzo Italiano meanwhile lined his side up in a 4-3-3 shape, with Dodô, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Nikola Milenković, and Cristiano Biraghi in the backline. The midfield trio consisted of Arthur Melo, Giacomo Bonaventura, and Rolando Mandragora, while Nicolás González and Christian Kouamé flanked Andrea Belotti up front.

Low-risk football

The possession share was split roughly evenly throughout the game, as neither team established a clear initiative in the game. Both sides took a somewhat cautious approach, leading to a tight match with not many chances.

Olympiakos built up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with the double-pivot at different heights, as Iborra would usually stay in the number six zone close to the center-backs, while Hezze would often push a bit further forward as a connection between Iborra and the front four.

In response, Fiorentina pressed in a somewhat man-oriented fashion, with the midfield being relatively aggressive. From their initial 4-3-3 shape, Bonaventura would usually push up alongside Belotti in order to put pressure on Olympiakos’ center-backs and goalkeeper.

Arthur would be next, pushing forward to mark Iborra, while Mandragora remained slightly deeper in accordance with Hezze’s slightly more advanced position. This meant Fiorentina’s structure often transitioned into a temporary 4-3-1-2 shape when pressing in Olympiakos’ half.

Olympiakos usually played direct against Fiorentina’s pressing.

Olympiakos opted to try and play over the Fiorentina press, seeking longer passes towards El Kaabi and trying to bring their skilful attacking midfield trio into play from second balls. This was also a decent approach due to the space that could open up behind Fiorentina’s midfield and around Mandragora when Arthur pushed forward to mark Iborra.

Fiorentina were also unafraid to go direct against the pressing of Olympiakos. The Greek side were also man-oriented in certain phases, but less so than their opponents. They were also more likely to drop off into a deeper block for spells where it was necessary.

Their 4-2-3-1 shape naturally gave Olympiakos’s midfield access to Fiorentina’s midfield three without having to move far from their nominal positions. Bonaventura and Mandragora would often push quite far forward during buildup, leaving Arthur slightly isolated in the number six space without many connections around him

Fiorentina usually did not have many connections in the second line, and often played long. 

This, combined with Chiquinho’s marking, made it hard for Arthur to impact the game. With the central midfielders close to the striker, Fiorentina sometimes went for longer passes towards Belotti, or another forward, looking to play from second balls like their opponents.

El Kaabi breaks stalemate

Fiorentina had more shots and chances in the first half thanks to some good moments in transition, but the quality of chances was not high. In the second half, chance creation dropped even further, with only four shots between the sides.

Fiorentina’s pressing dropped off a bit in the second half. Whereas in the first half they had been keen to press in Olympiakos’ half, the second half saw them dropping off into a mid-block more often and defending from the halfway line. This was usually in a 4-4-2 shape, with the central midfielders acting more cautiously than the first half.

Olympiakos’ central midfielders swapped sides in the second half for reasons that are unclear, as Iborra moved over to the right of central midfield and Hezze to the left. Overall though, Olympiakos were also defending deeper, especially as the game went on. They were happy to sit in a 4-4-1-1 low block for certain periods of the game in order to close the space behind their defense.

Italiano was the first coach to make a chance, bringing M’Bala Nzola in for Belotti. This only increased Fiorentina’s propensity to play direct, since Nzola’s physical prowess showed some potential in long ball situations against Olympiakos’ defensive line.

Mendilibar’s first change saw an ex-Fiorentina player being introduced, as Stevan Jovetić replaced Fortounis. This change saw Podence move over to the right side of the attack, with Jovetić playing on the left. This change was followed by André Horta replacing Chiquinho in the number ten role.

There were further changes for Fiorentina, with Alfred Duncan, Jonathan Ikoné, and Antonín Barák all making appearances, but at the end of the ninety minutes the teams were still locked in a goalless stalemate.

Extra-time saw many patterns repeated, although Olympiakos were able to muster some more attacks in this period after only managing one shot in the second half. They were able to put together some attacks down the wings and get some crosses into the box towards El Kaabi. In the end, it was one of these crosses that proved decisive, as just a few minutes before the end of extra-time, Hezze’s cross was met by El Kaabi at the near post and directed into the net. With only a few minutes left, there was little time for Fiorentina to respond, and Olympiakos went on to lift their first ever European trophy.

Takeaways

Mendilibar won his second European trophy in twelve months by setting up a pragmatic and solid team with good enough attacking players to make the difference. They were unafraid to drop deep and defend when it was needed, and their attacking was direct and functional, designed to get the ball to their skilful attacking midfielders and feed El Kaabi as soon as possible. This was eventually rewarded, as El Kaabi capped off his remarkable European campaign with the winning goal.

For Fiorentina there was disappointment once again in Europe. In the first half they were probably the slightly better side, but once Olympiakos started dropping deeper as the game went on, the Italians found it hard to create anything.

Match plots to be added shortly.