Olympiakos U19: Champions of Europe

By Stephen Kountourou

The first in history 

The first Greek side to win a UEFA competition. Saying that out loud feels strange….but it is true. Even UEFA proclaimed on their official social media that this was the case. Olympiakos U19 achieved something incredible on the 22nd of April 2024. Champions of the UEFA Youth League. Champions of Europe and a great example of what can be achieved in Greek football when youth are allowed to develop and flourish. 

Sotris Silaidopoulos and his players deserve huge credit for doing what no other Greek club side at any level has been able to achieve and they deserve every bit of praise. But how did the journey to the final in Nyom begin?

The run to the final

Due to the group stages mirroring the men's senior Champions League group stages, and the Olympiakos senior team not participating in that tournament, the U19s, as Greek champions, began in the Domestic Champions Path. This was their chance to play two rounds before entering the knockout stages. 

Having been drawn to play Lecce in the first round, Olympiakos dispatched the Italian champions 3-1 home and away, winning the tie 6-2 on aggregate and progressing to the next round. Azerbaijani side Gabala SC was next, and Thrylos comfortably beat them 7-0 on aggregate to qualify for the playoffs. There they draw Italian giants Inter. 

Despite going down to ten men, after Antonis Papakanellos was sent off, Silaidoplous’ team held firm and took their opponents to penalties. As all six of Olympiakos’ penalty takers slotted home, Inter blinked first in the shoot-out. Matteo Cocchi’s missed penalty meant that the young guns of Piraeus won 6-5 and reached the Round of 16 for the first time since the 2014/15 season.  

French club Lens was potentially the hardest match of the tournament overall for Thrylos. With just over half an hour left to play Olympiakos were 2-0 down thanks to goals from Ayanda Sishuba and Rayan Fofana. Even if the Piraeus side exited the Youth League at this point, it was at least a respectable finish for a Greek side. But the players did not settle for bowing out at the last 16 stage. 

A penalty, scored by Charalampos Kostoulas, was followed by an equaliser minutes later from Stavros Pnevmonidis drawing Thrylos level in a miraculous turnaround. Penalties for the second game in a row followed and once again Thrylos defied the odds to win 4-2 and reach the quarter-finals. The furthest any Greek side had reached in the competition at that point. 

German champions Bayern Munich lay in wait for Olympiakos. But in eight glorious minutes in the first half, Thrylos went 0-3 up. Antonis Papakanellos had the pick of the bunch after his mazy run on the byline beat several Bayern players to score from a difficult angle past the keeper. Bayern responded by pulling one back but it was too little too late and the παιδιά won 1-3. 

The semi-final beckoned and one game left before the promised land of the final in Nyom. Only French champions Nantes stood in Olympiakos' way. For the third and final time in the competition, penalties beckoned, and just like the two shootouts before, Thrylos prevailed, booking their tickets to the first final in a UEFA competition for a Greek club in 53 years. 

The final

AC Milan, Olympiakos' opponent, also had to win three penalty shootouts en route to the final. From the get-go, and maybe to many of the neutral's surprise it was Thrylos who started the brighter of the two sides with three huge missed opportunities to break the deadlock in the first half. Rather than allowing Milan to punish them for their missed chances, Silaidopoulos’ boys continued to search for an opener after the break. 

From the hour mark onwards it was a six-minute, triple sucker punch from Olympiakos. First, a penalty scored by Mouzakitis broke the deadlock. One minute later possession was one back quickly and Papakanellos doubled his side's lead. Finally, what can only be described as the goal of the tournament, Theofanis Bakoulas with a wondrous overhead kick deserving of a winner's medal in itself, made it 3-0. 

To their credit, Milan attempted to get themselves back into the game. Their biggest chances came in the latter stages only for Anxhelo Sina to make an excellent triple save to keep his clean sheet and make Milan heads drop. At the final whistle, jubilation. Olympiakos achieved a glorious victory for the club and Greek football.

The future is bright?

For now, it is time for the spirited young men to celebrate their victory, Sotris Silaidopoulos to be given the credit deserving of any manager who has masterminded such a historic achievement for the sport in Greece. Playing an unorthodox 3-4-2-1 formation it is understandable why there are high hopes for him in Piraeus and why he will be part of Jose Luis Mendilibar’s staff for the senior squads 2024/35 campaign.

But this victory should also be seen as an opportunity for Olympiakos and Greek football. This does not need to be a one-off. A singular triumph can never be achieved again. This victory has proved that not only is there talent in the Greek football youth ranks but this must be taken advantage of as soon as possible. How many generations have we seen fall by the wayside? Unable to reach their potential because they were not allowed to develop the experience to mature and progress in their careers? 

The time is now for Greek football to start producing more talented players, giving more opportunities for a pathway to the first team. For the future of Greek football, if we look back at this Olympiakos U19s squad in years to come, with the same amount of nostalgia for what could have been, then it could quite possibly, be the biggest wasted opportunity our sport will have had for a generation. So after today, we must make it count.

@SteveKountourou

Hellas Football