Morocco’s Ayoub El Kaabi secured a historic win for his Greek club, Olympiacos, in Athens on Wednesday, May 29. Olympiacos celebrated becoming the first team from Greece to win a European trophy, thanks to El Kaabi’s late goal.

El Kaabi scored four minutes before the end of extra time, handing Fiorentina their second consecutive Europa Conference League final defeat. He was named man of the match for his decisive performance.

“Today we played a very good match. We made a promise to our supporters that we would make it today. And we did. It’s a final, but hamdulilah (praise is due to Allah), in the second half of extra time we scored a goal to win this trophy. I want to thank everybody,” El Kaabi said.

Despite a lengthy VAR check for a potential offside, El Kaabi’s goal stood, deciding an otherwise uneventful final. The Moroccan striker is the top scorer in this year’s UEFA Europa Conference League with 11 goals in nine matches, setting a record for a UEFA knockout stage. He surpassed Karim Benzema’s 10 goals in the 2021/22 Champions League, as well as the 10-goal hauls of Cristiano Ronaldo (2016/17 Champions League) and Radamel Falcao (2010/11 Europa League).

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