Yahoo News What John McGinn told the crowd after leaving Villa Park as Unai Emery explains Douglas Luiz anger
Aston Villa have it all to do in Piraeus next week as they head for Greece two goals behind in their Europa Conference League semi-final against Olympiacos.
Unai Emery's side fell to a shock 4-2 defeat at Villa Park as Ayoub El Kaabi bagged a hat-trick on a memorable night for Olympiacos. Goals from Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby either side of half-time had Villa on level terms before the away side scored two more just 15 minutes after the fourth goal of the game.
But Unai Emery, a man who has won four European titles and will head into his 17th season in Europe next term, isn’t a stranger to setbacks despite his glittering career. His experience gives Villa hope of overcoming this deficit.
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Here are the talking points from Villa's defeat...
THE TASK FACING VILLA IN GREECE
Back in 2014, Emery's Sevilla side avenged a two-goal home defeat to Real Betis in the Europa League, winning 2-0 away from home in the second leg before advancing on penalties.
And Villa are bound to make chances at the Karaiskakis Stadium after they have shipped 20 goals in the 18 matches Jose Luis Mendilibar has taken charge of.
Olympiacos have only kept one clean sheet in their last six home games in all competitions and have conceded four against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Europa Conference League quarter finals before then winning 6-1 away from home.
They’ve conceded two or more goals in eight of their last 21 home games in all competitions, including in both of their last two home matches in the Europa Conference League.
Yes it’s an uphill task, but not one which Emery hasn’t scaled before or Villa aren’t capable of overcoming.
A NIGHT OF MISTAKES
Credit to Olympiacos, they dominated periods of the match and were full value for their victory. But Villa gave them a helping hand, even in the literal sense just after Diaby had restored parity.
At 2-2, it felt like Villa had the momentum and were about to push on and force an advantage.
Watkins reduced the deficit just before half-time after two similar goals from El Kaabi. After the Morrocco international bagged his second of the night and Ortega fell to the ground injured, Emery called his players over to the touchline with 30 minutes on the clock.
He grabbed Luiz, then Clement Lenglet before finishing off his pep talk speaking with Robin Olsen.
"My message [to Luiz] is keep the ball, get the ball," Emery explained in his press conference. "You are our light with the ball. I was trying to support him and help him and try to give him the responsibility and help him feel confident."
As soon as Diaby found a tight gap at the near post to level the game up, Emery put both thumbs up at Lenglet, whose excellent switch across the pitch allowed Leon Bailey to drive into space before combining with Diaby in the box.
LUIZ'S HAND OF APOLOGY
Villa were presented with a glorious opportunity to head to Greece with only a one-goal deficit when Jhon Duran won the penalty for Villa after being tripped inside the box.
But after a long and frankly unnecessary wait, Luiz struck the outside of the post. It just about summed up his and Villa’s night.
After full-time, Luiz walked around all four stands with his arms up, presumably apologising for his miss and a below par performance.
Every player drops in and out of form and unfortunately for Villa, Luiz’s struggles have come in the business end of the season. Yet, without his previous contributions Villa wouldn’t be in such a position with only weeks of the campaign remaining.
McGINN: EVERYTHING WENT WRONG
An hour and a half after full-time, McGinn signed shirts and chatted to supporters before leaving the stadium. "Keep the faith" he reiterated twice to a young supporter.
"Not the game we wanted," the Villa skipper admitted to TNT Sports. "We wanted a lot more control. We started the game well.
"They're a good side. We wanted a victory going to Greece. We showed we're capable of coming back "Mistakes all round tonight. We'll take responsibility but it's up to us to go to Athens and turn it around because we're capable.
"They played very well tactically. They played the way we expected so there were no surprises. Everything that could have gone wrong tonight did.
"The manager was still positive in there [dressing room]. There's still a long way to go. We need to play a lot better than we did tonight but we're more than capable of doing it.
"Hopefully we'll have a few players back. The onus is on us to attack Olympiakos and score some goals. We have a mountain to climb but we know we're capable."
