Key events
HALF-TIME: Aston Villa 1-2 Olympiakos
Carnage! What a terrific first 45. Villa were poor to begin with, with El Kaabi making two excellent runs to get in behind and finish with aplomb. But Emery dished out a mid-half hairdryer during a brief stoppage and theyâre on it now, with Watkins â so reliable for them â completing fine team move at the end of the half.
45+3 min: Villa press forward and Luizâs shot flies over â but the hosts have finally found their intensity.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-2 Olympiakos (Watkins 45+1)
Game on! Cash drives down the right, plays the ball to Diaby in the middle, who works a delicious pass into the box for Watkins to leap on to. The low finish from the right-hand side of the area slides past Tzolakis and Villa believe.
45 min: Thereâs contact between the pair but it does look like Bailey is looking for the tangle.
44 min: Bailey twists and turns inside the box and goes down ⦠but the ref isnât having any of it. No penalty. Ortega is the man who tangled with the Villa winger.
43 min: Olympiakos go short with a corner before itâs worked in to the middle, nearly dropping perfectly for El Kaabi to have a hit ⦠but he plays it safe and opts for the pass. A goalkick is the end point of the attack.
42 min: Cash goes through the back of Podence with a leaping header â Villa just slightly losing their cool.
40 min: Podence and Luiz have a spat, and the ref intervenes to calm things down.
39 min: Podence leads Olympiakosâ counterattack and Fortounis hits a drive from the right ⦠that just goes over Olsen and the crossbar. Another promising wave forward from the tourists.
38 min: Villa move the ball well through the middle, all the way to Bailey ⦠but he canât sort his feet out and get a shot off from the edge of the box.
37 min: Luiz lays it off short to McGinn who shoots inside the box with his left ⦠and wins a corner. The ball in is cleared at the near post.
36 min: Cash slides in a ball down the line for Bailey to chase, and heâs fouled on the edge of the box, Carmo sliding in and causing the damage.
34 min: McGinnâs corner from the right is overhit, summing up Villaâs lack of finesse at present.
33 min: Luiz, hairdryer complete, picks it up in midfield and Villa attack down the right as Cash breaks into the box and Bailey picks up the leftovers, winning a corner.
31 min: Unai Emery is going absolutely ballistic at Douglas Luiz.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-2 Olympiakos (El Kaabi 29)
A gorgeous assist. Villa lose it in midfield, Olympiakos work it quickly to Podence, who drifts into the middle from the left, and he dinks the ball over the backline for El Kaabi to run on to inside the box from the right. He heads the bouncing ball down and slides it past the advancing Olsen into the net. What an incredible opening 30 for the Greek side.
28 min: Olympiakos happy to just send the ball high towards their centre forward, El Kaabi, and see what carnage that causes.
27 min: A long Olympiakos ball from the back tries to find El Kaabi but itâs headed away. Iborra wins the ball in the middle as the visitors circulate the ball before another long punt finds Olsen.
25 min: Diaby tries to play Watkins inside the box, but there are two Olympiakos shirts hanging tight on the Villa striker, and the ball runs out for a goal kick.
23 min: The Villa fans are still going. Olympiakos are fuelled by the atmosphere at the moment, though, as Fortounis drives forward for the visitors.
21 min: Olsen just about brushes away a corner that flies deep. Fortounis tries to work it back into a dangerous area, but his long diagonal ball goes out.
20 min: Podence is causing problems, sliding in Ortega to cross from the left. Itâs blocked for a corner.
GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Olympiakos (El Kaabi 16)
Another disallowed goal! This time itâs Olympiakos who suffer, with a neat Chiquinho flick finding El Kaabi, who slots confidently past Olsen with his left foot inside the box and turns away in celebration ⦠before itâs cut short by the flag going up. Oh wait a second. Thereâs a VAR check and itâs given! The lineâs drawn and heâs declared onside, Cash playing him on at right back. Villa are left stunned.
15 min: Watkins is clutching on to his right arm, in quite a bit of pain. Thatâs just after a Douglas Luiz hit from range that has an awkward bounce â but itâs dealt with by the keeper.
14 min: Villa almost get a bit too cute, with Bailey cutting in from the right and passing before the ball works its way to Digne as Olympiakos retreat and manage.
9 min: Disallowed goal! Luiz goes short with the corner and gets it back to dink a ball to the far post where Konsa gets on the end of it, working it across goal before Bailey heads in from close range ⦠but the celebrations are quickly cut short. Apparently there was a foul in the buildup, Lenglet on Iborra.
8 min: Villa have settled in, working it around midfield before Digne tries to slide in a cross from the left. The ball is diverted out for a corner â¦
6 min: Cash advances up the field before the ball works it way to Rogers, who delivers a fine curling effort from the edge of the box ⦠Tzolakis gets down to his left and pushes out for a corner. A terrific effort. Villa canât capitalise from the corner.
4 min: A bright opening for Olympiakos, who look lively and keen to spoil the party. Podence is operating on the left and has enjoyed himself in the early moments.
2 min: The Villa supporters break into song before Podence delivers a sublime ball into the box with the outside of his right foot, and Iborra gets a head on it at the far post, with Olsen tipping it over the bar. The flag goes up ⦠but I reckon he might well have still been on.
1 min: Olympiakos knock it around at the back before Podence overhits an ambitious ball into the Villa box.
Peep!
Villa are in their usual claret and blue; Olympiakos rock a peculiar grey, orange number. The visitors kick off.
âGood luck to Villa tonight,â writes Ian Sargeant, a gracious West Ham supporter. âKeep the ribbons on the trophy. Best non family night of my life in prague last year.â
Just 10 minutes away now. Feel free to drop me a line with your thoughts, queries, film recs, life advice, whatever you fancy.
Iâve crunched the numbers and I believe Villa have five changes to the starting XI from their quarter-final second leg against Lille, including Robin Olsen replacing the suspended MartÃnez in goal. Olympiacos have two changes from their last-eight clash with Fenerbahce, with former Manchester City man Stefan Jovetic beginning on the bench. Another Olympiakos name familiar to Our League is Daniel Podence, on loan from Wolves, who starts.
Just in case you donât want my company (your loss, but I wonât take any â *he sobs* â offence).
The teams
Hereâs how theyâre looking â¦
Aston Villa: Olsen, Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Digne, McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Bailey, Diaby, Rogers, Watkins
Subs: Diego Carlos, Torres, Gauci, Zaniolo, Duran, Kesler-Hayden, Iroegbunam, Wright, Munroe, Kellyman, Young
Olympiakos: Tzolakis, Rodinei, Retsos, Carmo, Ortega, Hezze, Iborra, Chiquinho, Podence, El Kaabi, Fortounis
Subs: Paschalakis, Horta, El-Arabi, Alexandropoulos, Quini, Carvalho, Jovetic, Richards, Papadoudis, Prekates
Referee: Marco Guida (Italy)
Hereâs Ben Fisher on the wonderful time Villa are having.
Preamble
Good evening and welcome to coverage of Olympiakosâ trip over to Villa Park for the first leg of this Europa Conference League semi-final tie. Unai Emeryâs priority is the Premier League but as a serial Europa League winner he knows how good continental success tastes; this really is a massive night in Aston Villaâs modern history, a chance to replicate the scenes taken in by West Ham last year. Theyâll have to get through it without a major figure, though, with Emi MartÃnez, their chief mischief-maker, missing through suspension. Nervy, even just a little? They must be.
The Greek side had their own penalty joy in the quarter-finals, beating Fenerbahce 3-2 in the shootout after Konstantinos Tzolakis, just 21 years of age, made three saves. Their season began in the Europa League and included a victory over West Ham, but they exited at the group stage before defeating Ferencváros, Maccabi Tel Aviv and the relatively star-studded Turkish outfit to get to this point. Villa have won all of their home games in this European run; a difficult night lies ahead for their opponents. Kick-offâs at 8pm BST.