Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was seen celebrating on the pitch at full-time, after his Olympiacos side hung on to seal a 4-2 victory against Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.
The shipping and media tycoon owns the Premier League club, Olympiacos and Portuguese side Rio Ave, and was spotted high-fiving visiting fans inside Villa Park after the Greek side survived a resurgence from Unai Emery’s side.
On Thursday, Olympiacos put a huge dent in Villa’s hopes of reaching their first European final in 42 years, after the visitors survived a resurgence from the home side to take a two goal advantage into the return leg.
Olympiacos’ Ayoub El Kaabi scored twice inside the first 30 minutes to give the visitors a commanding lead. Euros hopeful Ollie Watkins would pull a goal back for Villa on the stroke of half-time after he was played in by Moussa Diaby, who followed up with a second after the break.
Despite Villa’s resurgence, El Kaabi and Santiago Hezze would hit back with a goal each, restoring the visitors two-goal lead. Douglas Luiz had the chance to pull a goal back from the penalty spot, but deflected his shot wide off the right post.
Evangelos Marinakis was pictured on the pitch as his Olympiacos side beat Aston Villa
He went over to the Olympiacos fans and celebrated by punching his fist into the air
Marinakis, meanwhile, has been embroiled in Nottingham Forest’s explosive rant at Premier League officials following their 2-0 defeat by Everton. He had reportedly been behind the social media post issued by the club that sparked outrage around the league.
The greek entrepreneur took ownership of Nottingham Forest in May 2017, following a £50million takeover of the two-time European Cup winners.
The 56-year-old had previously taken charge of Olympiacos in 2010 in the aftermath of the country’s financial crisis, and as president of the club, the side went on to win the Greek top-flight seven times.
He said he had bought the club because of his love of Olympiacos, which reportedly holds a ‘special place in his heart’.
That was evident on Thursday, as the club’s owner walked to celebrate and embrace the Olympiacos fans who had stayed behind after the epic match.
Under Marinakis, the club have undergone a squad turn over in recent times, as well as attracting some big names from the world of football to their ranks, including Marcelo and James Rodriguez.
His other club, Forest, meanwhile, are currently in danger of being relegated and are also facing a four-point deduction for breaches of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules – which they are appealing.
Marinakis took over Forest in May 2017 and has overseen them achieve promotion to the Premier League
The Olympiacos owner had also been at the centre of Forest’s explosive social media posts
The Greek media tycoon owns three clubs including Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos
Nottingham Forest said in an explosive statement that they had warned PGMOL not to have Attwell as the VAR on Sunday
Ayoub El Kaabi scored twice inside 30 minutes to put the visitors ahead during the match
Olympiacos fans were in full voice at Villa Park for the Europa Conference League semi-final
Forest raised eyebrows last week after they took to social media to hit out several refereeing penalty decisions during the match, while also questioning the allegiances of the games’ VAR, who allegedly was a Luton fan.
The explosive post on X (formerly Twitter) read: ‘Three extremely poor decisions -three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept.
‘We were warned by the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times.
‘NFFC Will now consider its options,’ it added.
Referee’s chief Howard Webb ultimately conceded that Forest should have had a penalty given in their favour during the match and it was also confirmed that Forest would be sent audio of the VAR recordings from the match.
Many from around the Premier League have offered their opinions on Forest’s antics on Twitter, including Pep Guardiola who ‘absolutely disagreed’ with Marinakis’ side’s accusations of bias against the Premier League.
After going 2-0 down, Unai Emery’s side staged a sensational comeback to pull level at 2-2
Euros hopeful Ollie Watkins scored before half-time to pull a goal back for Aston Villa
‘I absolutely disagree,’ Guardiola said. ‘The referees want to do the job as best as possible. They feel the pressure, we put pressure on them for the passion of the game in the moment.
‘But when I sit here and reflect, they try to do their best and are under scrutiny with the cameras there. When they make a mistake, they feel bad. It’s normal.
‘They do the job, they want to do it well. The game is so difficult, it is fast and quick, decisions have to be made in one instant. It’s not easy.’