“Touched” the miracle and said goodbye to the Conference League with their heads held high. The Union tied the score in 51 minutes in a 3-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano, but conceded a goal and the 3-1 win in New Philadelphia did not come with a historic qualification to the last four of the competition. Two goals were scored by Zini (13, 51) and one by Marin (35 – penalty), while the “fateful” goal for the Greek team was scored by Rayo captain Izzy Palazón in the 60th minute.
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But the rest of the game was out of the wildest dreams of the fans!
On 13 minutes from a Pilios cross, Zini found himself in the area and thundered Bataya from close range. It was the quick goal that AEK needed to set the game on fire. Rayo’s players seemed to have lost it, unable to keep the ball and had succumbed to the “yellow and black appetites”. It wouldn’t be long before 2-0 would come and it came at 36 minutes. Koita won a penalty with an excellent individual effort, which Marin converted, bringing the Greek team even closer to their dream.
At the start of the second half, after Coutesa’s cross, Zini scored with a stunning header to make it 3-0 on 50 minutes. The score of the big upset was already a fact, sooner than even the most optimistic player expected. At times on the pitch, AEK seemed to have 4-5 players… more, as they hadn’t allowed the Spaniards to breathe. On 60 minutes, in the only inactivity of AEK’s defensive operation, Diaz passed a brilliant vertical pass to Palazón and he passed to Strakosa to reduce the deficit to 3-1.
After the tempo dropped considerably and the home side’s momentum was cut off, Zini came close twice (66, 71) but failed to score. In the final stretch of the match fatigue was the dominant factor for both teams. More so for AEK, which was waiting for its “moment” to be able to touch the miracle again. A moment that never came and so the Union bid farewell to the competition to the warm applause of their fans, who turned it into a “furnace”. In the 5th minute of stoppage time, De Frutos “marked” the crossbar of Strakosa.
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Referee: Espen Espas (Norway)
Yellow: Varga, Coita – Akomas, Lopez, Diaz
Compositions:
AEK (Marko Nikolic): Strakosa, Mukudi, Relvas, Rota, Pelios (86′ Pereira), Marin, Pineda, Koita, Coutesa (71′ Eliasson), Zini (77′ Gacinovic), Varga.
RAGIO VAGENO (Inigo Lopez): Bataya, Felipe (55′ Diaz), Lejeune, Chavarria, Raciu, Ciss, Lopez (55′ Valentin), Palazón (80′ Mendi), García (27′ l.tr. Espino), Akomas (46΄ Alemao), De Frutos.
