Europa Conference League semi-final - Olympiacos 2 Aston Villa 0 (Olympiacos win 6-2 on aggregate)

Instead of May 29 in Athens, it was May 9 in the adjoining port city of Piraeus where Unai Emery’s team finally ran aground.

Needing to overturn a two-goal deficit against Olympiacos to progress, Villa slipped to a 2-0 defeat on the night at a raucous Georgios Karaiskaki stadium to lose the tie 6-2 on aggregate.

There was no shortage of heart, simply not enough quality where it mattered in the final third as Emery’s men dominated the ball but rarely tested home keeper Kostas Tzolakis.

And just as in the first leg, Villa could not keep Olympiacos top scorer Ayoub El Kaabi quiet. The Morocco international scored 10 minutes in to ease home nerves and then 10 minutes from the end to put the icing on the cake, as the hosts became only the second Greek team since Panathinaikos in 1971 to reach a major European final.

Villa were hoping to make their second but instead the club’s trophy drought will extend into another season.

In truth, the four-goal margin of victory does not tell the full story of a tie which turned on a handful of key moments, all of them falling in favour of Olympiacos.

Yet Villa, ultimately, could have no complaints. Their performance in the previous week’s first leg and subsequent 4-2 defeat ultimately proved too big a mountain to climb.

Not even the return from injury of Emi Martinez, hero of their quarter-final win over Lille, could help them.

It was 75 minutes before kick-off when Villa supporters finally got an answer on Martinez’s availability. He started, as you always knew he would, yet there was no Youri Tielemans, Nicolo Zaniolo or Morgan Rogers, while Alex Moreno was also missing from the squad.

Clement Lenglet was the only outfield player on Villa’s bench over the age of 21.

The end of the stadium which houses Olympiacos’ ultras, known as Gate 7, was packed more than an hour before kick-off.

There were near deafening boos when Villa emerged to warm-up and the same again when they lined up to defend that goal in the first half.

Emery’s men had actually started encouragingly, David Carmo denying Ollie Watkins an almost certain goal inside four minutes when he beat the striker to Diego Carlos’ cross.

But the first time the hosts broke out, they scored. A lofted ball set Daniel Podence away down the left and though McGinn blocked his cross, the ball went back to the Wolves loanee who played in Quini to cross for an unmarked El Kaabi to convert at the far post.

Emery could be seen calling for calm and to their credit, his team were not playing badly.

Things just kept breaking down around the box. Leon Bailey rose to meet a header but sent it high and wide of the target, while a long-range effort from Douglas Luiz was straightforward for Kostas Tzolakis.

On the half-hour mark the Olympiacos keeper was forced into more serious work when Bailey played in Moussa Diaby and he spread himself to save at the near post. Bailey had been clattered by Rodinei in the act of passing and when play was pulled back, Luiz lifted the free-kick over the bar.

At times, it was agonising. Bailey pulled the ball low across the box and Matty Cash slipped and fell on his face in a desperate attempt to reach it at the far post.

In first half stoppage time, Tzolakis was tested again when Bailey let rip from 20 yards out, turning the effort over the bar.

Bailey, who had been operating on the right, switched to the left flank at the start of the second half and sent in a cross which Watkins headed over the bar.

But Villa were getting ragged, Martinez sending the ball straight out of play and then Luiz doing so twice in quick succession. Heads were just starting to drop.

The introduction of Jhon Duran injected some energy and he tested Tzolakis with a low effort, moments after Santiago Hezze had just failed to get on the end of El Kaabi’s cross at the other end.

Villa just could not find a way through in the face of some excellent home defending, Panagiotis Retsos throwing himself in the way of a Cash cross with Watkins waiting to tap home.

With 10 minutes remaining, any remaining hope of a comeback was extinguished as El Kaabi raced clear and finished over Martinez. Initially ruled out for offside, the goal was given by VAR, in the same way the scoring started the previous week.

Watkins finally tested Tzolakis for the first time on the night in stoppage time but the keeper tipped over his header. But there was to be no consolation.

Teams

Olympiacos (4-3-3): Tzolakis, Rodinei, Retsos, Carmo, Quini (Apostolopoulos 77), Hezze, Iborra (Horta 73), Chiquinho, Podence (Masouras 64), El Kaabi, Fortounis Subs not used: Horta, El-Arabi, Alexandropoulos, Carvalho, Jovetic, Prekates, Ntoi, Papadoudis (gk), Paschalakis (gk).

Villa (3-4-3): Martinez, Konsa, Carlos (Iroegbunam 65), Torres, Cash (Kesler-Hayden 86), McGinn, Luiz, Digne (Munroe 86), Bailey (Kellyman 86), Watkins, Diaby (Duran 57) Subs not used: Lenglet, Patterson, Young, Gauci (gk), Olsen (gk).