They wanted to go to the Champions League, which did not work out for them. In the end, Olympiakos footballers are happy for the European League, which Tomáš Vaclík won for them. The rematch of the last preliminary round with Apollon Limassol went to a penalty shootout, in which the Czech goalkeeper caught three scorers.
The first match on the field of Cypriot Apollon ended in a draw 1:1. In the return, Olympiakos took the lead in the second minute thanks to Georgios Masouras. But Ioannis Pittas equalized in the 90th minute. So it went to overtime, where no goal was scored, and penalties had to be decided.
Home team M’Vila went first and converted. After that, visiting Kyriakou faced the penalty spot, who sent the ball to the left from his point of view, but Vaclík caught the direction and kicked the shot. Subsequently, another Olympiakos scorer also succeeded and an Apollon player also made his mark.
After two series, the home team led 2:1. Subsequently, Pipa scored and a few seconds later Vaclík’s moment came again. Ongenda sent the penalty to a similar spot as Kyriakou and the former Sparta Prague goalkeeper distinguished himself for the second time.
The home team Randjelovič could definitely decide, but he did not convert. El Hadji Ba stood up to Apollon’s fourth penalty, he also kicked it to the left post from his point of view, and Vaclík shone again. Immediately afterwards, he raised his hands to the sky and subsequently disappeared under the bodies of his celebrating teammates.
“Hello Olympiakos fans. Thank you very much for your support. You played an important role in our promotion match. We will all be watching the Europa League draw and see what the outcome is. Good evening,” Vaclík said in a post-match video that the Greek club published on its Twitter account.
Tomáš Vaclík včera v penaltovém rozstřelu zneškodnil 3 penalty ze čtyř (!) a hlavně díky němu postoupil Olympiakos do skupiny Evropské Ligy! pic.twitter.com/WNPFYKYWrf
— Michael Marek (@wichael_91) August 26, 2022
The Olympiakos footballers will find out their opponents in the basic group of the Europa League on Friday at 1 p.m., they are seeded in the first bracket.
Even the Champions League will be played by the footballers of Pilsen, who managed the home rematch with Karabakh:
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