AC Milan crashed out of Europa League group stage

13 December 2018 at 22:57

The seven times champions of Europe have failed to progress from the group stahe of the Europa League, following a 3-1 defeat at Olympiakos

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Thomas Freeman Yeboah

Olympiakos beat AC Milan in a thriller to advance to the Europa League knockout stages at the expense of the Italian giants.

They needed to win by two goals and led through Pape Abou Cisse's header.

Cristian Zapata scored an own goal to put Olympiakos 2-0 up but 110 seconds later he scored a header in the right net to give Milan the edge again.

But Konstantinos Fortounis' late penalty after Ignazio Abate's foul gave the Greek side the goal they needed.

They knock seven-time European champions Milan out on goal difference after they finished level on head-to-head. Had the visitors scored once more then Olympiakos would have needed to win by three because of away goals.

It is the first time Milan have been knocked out of a European group stage since the second round in the 2000-01 Champions League.

Elsewhere, Slavia Prague qualified for the last 32 after a 2-0 win over Group C winners Zenit St Petersburg. That result eliminated Bordeaux and FC Copenhagen.

Football

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Thomas Freeman Yeboah