It's easy to have little digs at the Europa Conference League but you see how much it means - especially to teams not used to recent European success.

It was the same last year for West Ham and for Roma the season before.

We are under way at a noisy Villa Park.

Rachel Corsie
Scotland and Aston Villa defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

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It has been a long time since Aston Villa Football Club has had these nights and it is the work that Unai Emery has done in building this.

The results he has had and the different teams he has put out, you can see the incredible work he has done.

I am very much grateful I have a seat tonight to be in the stadium!

This is Olympiakos' first European semi-final ever. Some of the Greek media have been calling it the biggest game in their history.

A great atmosphere as the players come out for Aston Villa's first European semi-final since 1982.

Stephen Warnock
Former England and Liverpool defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

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Olympiakos are capable of winning with the quality of players they have.

They have a lot of Portuguese and Spanish players. When you look at their upbringing it is technical football and they are happy to play under pressure.

There will be a great atmosphere here tonight and it is whether they can play to the occasion.

Olympiakos are not a bad team. They had a poor start to the season, but they have a guy [Jose Luis Mendilibar] at the helm who is capable of winning trophies.

This will be Olympiakos' last European game outside of Athens this season.

The second leg will be played at their Karaiskakis Stadium home and the final is about 10 miles down the road at AEK Athens' OPAP Arena.

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Olympiakos striker Youssef El-Arabi scored the crucial extra-time goal to knock Arsenal out of the Europa League last 32 in February 2020.

"It’s nice to remember these things, and it’s not easy to leave them behind," said the 37-year-old Morocco international, who is on the bench today.

"It was a nice moment, and if my team needs me and I have to score the qualifying goal, I would like to do it.

"The important thing is that we are all full of expectations and ready to help our team achieve its goal.

"We have seen videos of the opponent. We need to take advantage of every little thing."

Aston Villa defender Matty Cash has backed Robin Olsen to fill in for Emiliano Martinez tonight.

This will be the 34-year-old Swede's 11th start for Villa since arriving in January 2022.

Cash said: "Robin has played so many games for his country, he's a really experienced player.

"Emi is probably the world number one, but Robin is a fantastic goalkeeper as well. He has got more than enough experience to come in. I’m not the one to tell him he is ready to come in, he knows it."

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Villa boss Unai Emery is hoping to win his fifth European trophy.

He has won the Europa League three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.

He led Arsenal to the 2019 final, although they lost to Chelsea.

"I don’t want to remember my past in Europe," he said this week.

"Of course I know it’s successful more or less but I want to focus on each moment. The past is important for my achievements but not the future.

"I can use my experiences, but it’s about creating a new way and trying to enjoy a new way. I’m here because I was more successful than less and we were always focusing on Europe."

The Spaniard's only domestic silverware came in France when he was Paris St-Germain boss.

Aston Villa are enjoying their best season in a generation.

The last time they won a trophy was in 1995-96, the League Cup final win over Leeds.

That was also the last time they finished fourth in the Premier League.

This year they were are three wins away from winning the Europa Conference League and sit fourth in the table.

Aston Villa

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to TNT Sports: "Of course every energy they [fans] can give is very important and we like to transmit our energy as well and then play clever.

"We have to try impose on the field our game-plan and try to share things how we can play and manage the match.

"Then we can play with our heart and energy of the supporters."

On changes: "It's because we have had to use so many players.

"I am happy with every player and some changes because we had to manage the squad, but we always try to get our best performance collectively."

On Olympiakos: "I respect the opponent and the competition."

Kevin Hatchard
Uefa commentator

I think Atalanta have set the bar quite high for themselves. In recent years this is a team that has done incredible things and under Gian Piero Gasperini they've shown that they can have deep runs in Europe. They've shown they can qualify for the Champions League.

When Gasperini first arrived, his players felt that the best the team could do was avoid relegation. There was a story that he asked them to put on a whiteboard what their top expectation was and that was pretty much it ‘to stay up’.

He's completely transformed them now and this could be one of their best ever seasons under him. They've reached the final of the Coppa Italia. They're in the mix to qualify for that extra Champions League space and they've got a genuine chance of winning this tie.

I would have them as favorites against Marseille, even though Marseille have found some good form under the veteran coach Jean Louis Gasset. I actually think Atalanta are favourites and have got a real chance to win the whole competition.

Kevin Hatchard
Uefa commentator

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I think this is an incredibly tough test actually for Bayer Leverkusen.

If you look at their last couple of games in the Bundesliga against Dortmund and Stuttgart, they needed last-gasp levellers to save that unbeaten run.

It's utterly remarkable what they're doing. They're not that far away from 50 games unbeaten in all competitions.

It's never been done before by a team in the top five leagues. It's never been done before by a team in German professional football so they are doing something utterly incredible.

They've already won their first ever Bundesliga title. I'm pretty confident they're going to win the German Cup because they're up against a second division team in the final of the DFB Pokal.

But this is really tough because Roma won the Europa Conference League a couple of seasons ago, got to the final of the Europa League last season and they've been revitalised by Daniele de Rossi. They're playing a lot of good attacking football and so this is probably one of Leverkusen's toughest tests of the season.

Bayer Leverkusen are trying to keep one of the great footballing stories of modern times going.

Xabi Alonso's side are yet to lose in 46 games in any competition this season.

No team on record have ever managed an unbeaten season that also involved being in Europe.

They've already won their first ever Bundesliga title and are in the German Cup final.

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You might not have expected there to be a boss in tonight's European semi-finals who was managing in the Welsh top flight two years ago.

But Club Bruges' caretaker manager is Nicky Hayen.

The 43-year-old Belgian was in charge of Cymru Premier side Haverfordwest County for the second half of the 2021-22 campaign, helping them avoid relegation.

He left at the end of that season to become head coach of Club Bruges' under-21s.

Hayen is in charge because the club sacked Ronny Deila in March.

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Fiorentina are bidding to reach the Europa Conference League final for the second consecutive season.

Last year they lost to West Ham in Prague. Could it be Villa in Athens this year?

Opponents Club Bruges have won their last seven games in all competitions.

Shall we have a look at some of tonight's other games?