The scene that unfolded on the streets of Athens this summer is something Rangers supporters would love to see repeated in their own city in the future.
On the sweltering days in the Greek capital you were more likely to come across a winter coat than the well-known green and white shirts from Panathinaikos.
Supporters of the Trifylli – the Shamrock – had to go incognito if they wanted to avoid the scorn of fans of bitter rivals Olympiacos after their success in the Conference League.
Olympiacos’ triumph against Fiorentina on May 29 instantly changed the landscape of Greek football and cemented the red and whites’ status as the country’s premier force.
Remarkably, prior to that historic victory over the Italians at the home of AEK Athens, no Greek club had ever won a European trophy.
Olympiacos won the Conference League trophy last season after overcoming Fiorentina
Thousands of fans celebrated the historic victory at the Agia Sophia Stadium
The streets of Piraeus were filled with cheering supporters until the early hours of the morning
The only one to ever participate in a final was the great Panathinaikos team of 1971, which lost the European Cup final to Ajax.
For a football-mad country with a population of more than 10 million, it felt like the wait for one of their clubs to lift a major trophy would take forever.
That it ended in a year where Olympiacos went from crisis to crisis was simply extraordinary. The team eventually climbed to third place behind PAOK and AEK, with Panathinaikos fourth.
They started the year with Diego Martinez at the helm, before Carlos Carvalhal had a short and unspectacular spell that ended in February after they lost to Panathinaikos.
Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis then turned to Jose Luis Mendilibar, the 63-year-old Spaniard who had won the Europa League with Sevilla a year earlier before losing his job. Talk about an inspired appointment.
Mendilibar used all his experience to immediately instill much-needed belief in the team.
Recognizing the talents of players like Kostas Tzolakis, Santiago Hezze, Rodinei, Vicente Iborra, Francisco Ortega and Ayoub El Kaabi, Mendilibar found a system that suited the players – and told them he believed in them.
A win over Ferencvaros kicked off a great run in the Conference League, which went hand in hand with a rise in the domestic rankings.
When Maccabi Tel Aviv won 4-1 in Piraeus in the round of 16, Olympiacos’ dream seemed to be over. A miraculous 6-1 win in neutral Serbia in the second leg reverberated across Europe.
The Greeks booked their place in the 2024 Conference League final by beating Aston Villa
Needing penalties to beat Fenerbahce in the last eight, high-flying Aston Villa looked a big ask for them in the semi-finals.
However, a breathtaking 4-2 win in Birmingham took the wind out of Villa’s sails – with a 2-0 win on home soil putting Mendilibar ahead of compatriot Unai Emery.
With the final being held in their home city, the fear for Olympiakos fans was that all the hype and expectations would be too much.
Fiorentina, having lost the final to West Ham the previous year, had a huge sense of purpose.
But the Greeks had a talisman like no other in El Kaabi, their Moroccan attacker.
When he pounced on Hezze’s cross with four minutes of added time remaining, he faced a lengthy VAR check to see if his 14th European goal of the season would stand and grant him immortality.
After waiting all their lives to see their side lift a European trophy, Olympiacos fans were willing to wait a little longer.
The awarding of the goal shattered the Italians. The final whistle brought unbridled joy to the vast majority of those present.
Spaniard Jose Luis Mendilibar turned Olympiacos’ season around after taking over in February
“Praise God, we promised our supporters that we would do this today and we did,” El Kaabi said.
Mendilibar stated: ‘It is an honor to have made all these people happy, I feel immense joy and happiness that I have given people this feeling and I dedicate it to them.
‘We have achieved something that our club has never achieved before. We will celebrate it as it should be. Then we’ll get to work on what comes next.’
The ticketless fans who watched the final in Korai Square in Piraeus would not be able to sleep for days. The sky had turned into a spectacle of fireworks and crimson hues.
Around 4 a.m. the players and coaching staff arrived with the trophy in an open-top bus.
Victories over Panathinaikos in The Derby of Eternal Enemies famously brought the Piraeus working class to a standstill, but this was simply off the charts.
‘We have finally lived what our generation was waiting for. We hope that the next generation will be as lucky as ours,” said fan Giannis Christodoulou.
“Once in a lifetime I’m overjoyed, it’s fantastic,” added fellow supporter Diamantis Diamantopoulos.
As the trophy was displayed outside the Piraeus Municipal Theatre, owner Marinakis addressed the festive scenes on display in Greek communities around the world.
Striker Ayoub El Kaabi scored the winner against Malmö in the Europa League this season
“I was sure (we would win) and that was something we had to convey to the players,” said the man who also owns Nottingham Forest.
“We are excited and you see what is happening all over Greece, all over the world, in America, in Australia. Germany, England.
“I want this evening to be enjoyed by our fans, our players, our great coach and everyone who has given us the strength to keep believing and make our dreams come true.”
Captain Kostas Fortounis added: “We thank all our fans who stood by our side as we achieved this great achievement. I want you to love this team with all your heart and I want us all to go for more European titles.”
Once the dust settled – and it took a while – the scale of Olympiacos’ ambition became clear.
With French legend Christian Karembeu taking on the role of strategic advisor to the team, Mendilibar has recalibrated the squad in search of Europa League glory.
Sentiment played little role in the rebuild with no fewer than 22 players with first-team experience sold or told their loan deals had expired.
The renewal has seen money spent on Portugal’s Costinha from Rio Ave and Sergio Oliveira from Galatasaray, Norwegian midfielder Kristoffer Velde from Lech Poznan, Ukrainian international striker Roman Yaremchuk and Willian, formerly of Arsenal, Chelsea and Fulham.
El Kaabi, who has already scored nine goals this season, remains the main man – and probably always will be.
Like Rangers, Mendilibar’s men found Lyon too hot to handle, but they have picked up six points from Braga and Malmö.
The bad news for Philippe Clement’s side, who prepare for hostility at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday, is that the mother of all sides has not swayed the Greeks’ appetite for a new one.