Europa Conference League

With Greek club Olympiakos aiming for its first European trophy, there will be a massive security operation in Athens for Wednesday's Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina.

Police in Athens have announced restrictions for the Europa Conference League final between Olympiacos and Italian side Fiorentina that will be played at the OPAP Arena in Nea Filadelfia next Wednesday.

Under the restrictions, each fan base will have designated meeting points, from where they will proceed to the stadium and pass through checkpoints on the way.

Olympiakos became on Thursday the second Greek club ever to reach a European final, as it defeated Aston Villa for the second time in as many games, this time with a 2-0 score in Piraeus, to set up an appointment with Fiorentina at the Europa Conference League final, to take place on May 29 in Athens.

A 90-minute match, that’s how far Olympiacos is from qualifying for the final of the Europa Conference League

Olympiakos is in the semifinals of the Europa Conference League, and will face Aston Villa for a spot in the final to take place in Athens, after eliminating Fenerbahce in the penalty shootout on Thursday, while PAOK lost to Club Bruges for a second time.

Olympiakos and PAOK remain in with a chance to qualify to the semifinals of the Europa Conference League after Thursday's first-leg games, with the Piraeus giant beating Fenerbahce 3-2 at home and the Thessaloniki team going down 1-0 at Club Bruges.

Ten PAOK fans have been arrested by police in Bruges, Belgium, for possession of knuckle dusters, fireworks and forged tickets, Belgian media report.

Fans of the Thessaloniki soccer club PAOK unfurled on Thursday a large banner calling for justice for the 57 Tempe railway collision victims in front of the European Parliament building in Brussels, where they are attending a quarter-final game against Club Brugge in the Europa Conference League.

PAOK and Olympiakos produced historic reversals of their poor results a week earlier to win handsomely on Thursday in the return leg games and advance to the quarterfinals of the Europa Conference League. That was a rare night of glory in Europe for Greek soccer this season.

PAOK thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 in Toumba and overturned its 2-0 deficit from seven nights earlier.

Olympiakos and PAOK, Greece's representatives in the Europa Conference League, have a mountain to climb if they are to qualify from their round-of-16 ties, following their defeats in Thursday's first-leg games.