At 3 a.m. Beijing time on May 3, the first leg of the 23/24 UEFA Europa League semifinals will be contested. As a result, both games were played out with goal shootouts, and such a game is indeed easier to satisfy the appetite of the fans. Unai Emery's Aston Villa have been a dark horse this season, taking the lead in the race for the top four in the Premier League. In this campaign, Villa sat at home against the old Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, and the goal must be to get all three points.
Unexpectedly, Jiang is still old and spicy, and Olympiacos, who has rich experience in Europe, quickly took the initiative in the game. In the 16th minute of the game, Chiquinho provided an assist, Caebi volleyed the goal, and Olympiacos led 1-0. In the 29th minute, it was Caebi who successfully formed a single knife against offside, and then he calmly shook the goalkeeper to score easily, and the Olympiakos team led 2-0. In the 46th minute of the first half, Villa pulled a goal back and Diaby set up a goal from Ollie Watkins, who have been in excellent form this season, to give the team hope of an equaliser.
In the 52nd minute of the second half, Villa made a comeback, Leon sent a diagonal pass, Diaby scored from a small angle, and Villa chased two goals in a row to equalize. Just four minutes later, Luis was fouled for handball, the referee awarded a penalty, and Caebi scored a hat-trick to give Olympiacos a 3-2 lead. In the 67th minute, Eze's long-range shot from outside the penalty area was deflected and scored. In the end, Olympiakes beat Villa 4-2 away, and the two teams scored a total of six goals in a goal shootout. In the second leg, Villa has little hope of turning the tables, so let's go back to the Premier League and fight for four honestly.
The other semi-final was between Fiorentina and Club Brugge in Serie A. Just five minutes into the game, Sottil scored a goal to give Fiorentina a 1-0 lead. In the 17th minute, Wanaken equalized from the penalty spot. In the 37th minute, Belotti turned and scored to give Fiorentina a 2-1 lead. In the 63rd minute, Club Brugge equalised through Thiago's solo goal. In stoppage time of the game, Enzola scored a goal to help Fiorentina beat Club Brugge 3-2 and take the lead in promotion.
I hope that the Premier League's only seedling Villa can keep the last "façade", in addition to fighting for the fourth, but also for the Premier League. If Villa are out, then all three Premier League teams in Europe this season could be eliminated.
In general, after the introduction of super long stoppage time in the Premier League this season, the physical consumption of players is greater, and the championship and relegation situation is still difficult to determine, on the other hand, the French Ligue 1 Paris, the Bundesliga's Bayer Leverkusen have won the championship in advance, and La Liga's Real Madrid is also in hand, only the Premier League may not be able to determine who is the champion and who can enter the Champions League. Of course, look at it from another angle: how can you not love such a Premier League?