The scene that played out on the streets of Athens across the summer is one that Rangers supporters would dearly love to see replicated in their own city at some stage in the future.
You had more chance of seeing a winter coat on those roasting hot days in the Greek capital than the famous green and white shirts of Panathinaikos.
Followers of the Trifylli — the Shamrock — had to go incognito if they were to avoid the scorn of fans of bitter rivals Olympiakos following their success in the Conference League.
Olympiakos’ triumph against Fiorentina on May 29 changed the landscape of Greek football at a stroke and cemented the red and whites’ status as the country’s pre-eminent force.
Remarkably, prior to that historic win over the Italians at the home of AEK Athens, no Greek club had ever won a European trophy.
Olympiakos clincehrf the Conference League trophy last season after overcoming Fiorentina
Thousands of fans celebrated the historic victory inside the Agia Sophia Stadium
The streets of Piraeus were packed with jubilant supporters until the early hours of the morning
In fact, the only one to ever contest a final was the great Panathinaikos side of 1971 who lost the European Cup final to Ajax.
For a football-mad nation with a population of over 10 million people, it felt like the wait for one of their clubs to lift a big prize would go on forever.
That it ended in a year when Olympiakos veered from crisis to crisis was simply extraordinary. The team eventually scrambled to a third-place finish 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 stint which 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 previously before losing his job. Talk about an inspired appointment.
Mendilibar used all his experience to immediately instil some much-needed belief in the side.
Recognising the talents of players like Kostas Tzolakis, Santiago Hezze, Rodinei, Vicente Iborra, Francisco Ortega and Ayoub El Kaabi, Mendilibar found a system which suited the players — and told them he believed in them.
A win over Ferencvaros was the launchpad to a superb run in the Conference League which came hand-in-hand with a move up the domestic table.
When Maccabi Tel Aviv won 4-1 in Piraeus in the round of 16, Olympiakos’ dream looked to be over. A miraculous 6-1 win in neutral Serbia in the second leg reverberated around Europe.
The Greeks booked their place in the 2024 Conference League final by beating Aston Villa
Having needed penalties to defeat Fenerbahce in the last eight, high-flying Aston Villa seemed a huge ask for them in the semi-finals.
However, a breathtaking 4-2 win in Birmingham took the wind from Villa’s sails — with a 2-0 triumph on home soil assuring Mendilibar got one over on his compatriot Unai Emery.
With the final being held in their home city, the fear for Olympiakos fans was that all the hype and expectation would be too much.
Fiorentina, who had lost the previous year’s final to West Ham, had a huge sense of purpose.
But the Greeks had a talisman like no other in El Kaabi, their Moroccan forward.
When he pounced on Hezze’s cross with four minutes of extra time remaining, he faced a lengthy VAR check to see if his 14th European goal of the season would stand and grant him immortality.
Having waited their entire lives to see their side lift a European trophy, Olympiakos fans were prepared to wait a little longer.
The award of the goal shattered the Italians. The final whistle brought unbridled joy for the vast majority in attendance.
Spaniard Jose Luis Mendilibar turned Olympiakos’ season around after taking over in February
‘Praise be to God, we promised our supporters we’d do this today and we did it,’ El Kaabi said.
Mendilibar declared: ‘It’s an honour to have made all these people happy, I feel immense joy and happiness to have made people feel this way and I dedicate it to them.
‘We have achieved something that our club has never achieved before. We will celebrate it the way we should. Then we will start working on what comes next.’
For those ticketless fans who watched the final unfold in Piraeus’s Korai Square, there would be no sleep for days. The sky was turned into a spectacle of fireworks and crimson hues.
At around 4am, the players and coaching staff arrived with the trophy on an open top bus.
Victories over Panathinaikos in The Derby of Eternal Enemies had been known to bring working-class Piraeus to a standstill, but this was simply off the charts.
‘We finally lived what our generation was waiting for. We hope the next generation gets as lucky as ours,’ said fan Giannis Christodoulou.
‘Once in a lifetime, I am overjoyed, it’s fantastic,’ added fellow supporter Diamantis Diamantopoulos.
As the trophy was paraded outside the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus, owner Marinakis addressed the scenes of celebration being witnessed in Greek communities throughout the world.
Forward Ayoub El Kaabi scored the winner against Malmo in this season’s Europa League
‘I was certain (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 night to be enjoyed by our fans, our players, our great coach and everyone who gave us the strength to keep believing and make our dreams come true.’
Captain Kostas Fortounis added: ‘We thank all our fans who were by our side as we achieved this major feat. 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 did take a while — the extent of Olympiakos’ ambition was made clear.
With France legend Christian Karembeu filling the role as the team’s strategic advisor, Mendilibar has recalibrated the squad in search of Europa League glory.
Sentiment played little part in a rebuild that saw no fewer than 22 players with first-team experience sold or told their loan deals were up.
The revamp has seen money spent on Portuguese pair 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 already has 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 have gleaned six points from Braga and Malmo.
The bad news for Philippe Clement’s side as they prepare for the hostility of the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday is that the mother of all parties has not affected the Greeks’ appetite for another one.
