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Tag: Europa

  • Europa: Liverpool in comeback win, Brighton lose at home, Boniface scores for Leverkusen

    Europa: Liverpool in comeback win, Brighton lose at home, Boniface scores for Leverkusen

    Liverpool came from behind to defeat LASK of Austria by 3-1 to kick start their campaign in this season’s  Europa cup on a good note.

    Goals from Darwin Nunez, Luiz Daiz and Mohammed Salah ensured the English side secured all three points in the encounter.

    However, Brighton’s eagerly awaited European bow fell flat as Greek heavyweights AEK Athens stunned Roberto de Zerbi’s men with a 3-2 Europa League group stage victory at the American Express Stadium.

    The Seagulls twice pegged AEK back after Djibril Sidibe and Mijat Gacinovic had taken advantage of Lewis Dunk’s absence through injury to score from first-half set pieces.

    But, even with 13 minutes’ injury-time, Brighton had no answer after substitute Ezequiel Ponce converted a third after 84 minutes.

    Niclas Eliasson was given too much time to cross after Tariq Lamptey had slipped as AEK launched a speedy counter-attack, Ponce applying the finish.

    In Germany, Red hot Nigerian forward, Victor Boniface  scored a goal and also provided an assist in the dominant display for his German side Bayern Leverkusen as the secure their biggest win of the night in the Europa League on Thursday as they walloped Hacken 4-0.

    Elsewhere in Switzerland, another Nigerian, Igoh Ogbu, also had a good outing as he scored the second goal for Slavia Prague in their 2-0 win over Servette.

    Lukas Masopust scored the opener for the visiting Slavia Prague in the 32nd minute. Then Ogbu struck the second for the Czech side in the 59th minute.

    The 23-year-old midfielder played the entire 90 minutes for his side.

     

    Another Nigerian star, Ademola Lookman, was on the winning side as Atalanta pipped Rakow Czestochowa 2-0. Lookman featured for 76 minutes before he was replaced by Mario Pasalic

    Liverpool took time adjusting to life back in the Europa League but for the fourth time in six matches this season, they came from behind to win 3-1 against LASK in Linz.

    The situation was similar in London where West Ham also came from behind to beat TSC Backa Topola 3-1.

    In some of the other results from Thursday’s Europa League games, Roma secured a 2-1 win away to FCSheriff while Ajax and Marseille played out a pulsating 3-3 draw at the Johan Cruyff arena.

  • Europa Cup: Liverpool, West Ham, others to know group stage opponents today

    Europa Cup: Liverpool, West Ham, others to know group stage opponents today

    The draws for the group stage of Europe second tier club football, Europa League will be conducted on Friday from 12 pm.

    Liverpool, West Ham, and Rangers will all be in Pot 1.

    The 32 teams have been placed in four seeding pots based on UEFA’s club coefficient rankings.

    In the group stage of the competition, clubs from the same country cannot play each other in the group stage.

    The winners of each group qualify for the round of 16, while the runners-up go into the knockout round play-offs and will face the teams who finish third in their Champions League group.

    The third-placed teams in each Europa League group will go into the Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs, where they will face the Europa Conference League group runners-up for spots in the last 16.

    EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW POT 1
    West Ham
    Liverpool
    Roma
    Ajax
    Villarreal
    Bayer Leverkusen
    Atalanta
    Rangers

    EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW POT 2
    Sporting CP
    Slavia Prague
    Rennes
    Olympiakos
    Real Betis
    LASK
    Marseille
    Qarabag

    EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW POT 3
    Molde
    Brighton
    FC Sheriff
    Union Saint-Gilloise
    Freiburg
    Sparta Prague
    Maccabi Haifa
    Sturm Graz

    EUROPA LEAGUE GROUP STAGE DRAW POT 4
    Toulouse
    AEK Athens
    Backa Topola
    Servette
    Panathinaikos
    Rakow Czestochowa
    Aris Limassol
    BK Hacken

     

  • UEFA renames Europa Conference League competition

    UEFA renames Europa Conference League competition

    UEFA has renamed its third-tier competition from “Europa Conference League” to “Conference League” starting from the 2024-25 season, European football’s governing body said Wednesday.

    Recall West Ham won the last edition after defeating Fiorentina by 2-1 at the final last season.

    The 2024 and 2025 finals will be held in Athens and Wroclaw respectively, while Lisbon will host the 2025 Women’s Champions League final at Sporting’s Estadio Jose Alvalade.

    The new Agia Sofia Stadium, home of AEK Athens, will be observed by UEFA officials until this November before confirming the 2024 final there.

    The UEFA Europa Conference League will be renamed as the UEFA Conference League from the 2024/25 season, it has been announced.

    European club football’s third-tier competition was launched in 2021 to increase UEFA’s offering beyond the Champions League and Europa League. It has overcome some criticism to produce two entertaining campaigns, with Roma and West Ham providing high-profile winners.

  • Europa Conference League: Moyes hands over medal to father

    Europa Conference League: Moyes hands over medal to father

    David Moyes handed his Europa Conference League winners’ medal to his father after ending West Ham United’s 43-year wait for a trophy.

    Jarrod Bowen’s dramatic last-minute goal sank Fiorentina 2-1 on a historic and emotional night in Prague.

    The victory helped the Hammers to secure the first piece of silverware since 1980’s FA Cup, and a first European trophy since 1965,

    Moyes’ dad, 87-year-old David Snr, has been on every step of West Ham’s European tour and joined his son on the pitch after the final whistle.

    “He was the first one, I thought I should get it round his neck,” said the jubilant West Ham boss. “He’s watched a lot over the years and I hope he enjoyed it.”

    West Ham led through a Said Benrahma penalty kick on the hour but were immediately pegged back by Giacomo Bonaventura’s strike.

    But when Bowen chased Lucas Paqueta’s ball over the top, Moyes almost found himself going full Jose Mourinho.

    “The moment he went through I was edging down the touchline,” he added. “If it was going to be anyone, I thought ‘this is the moment’.

    “But I couldn’t do a full Mourinho knee slide as the grass was a bit dry and I’d have ended up on my belly.”

    Moyes has written his name in West Ham folklore, joining Ron Greenwood and John Lyall as trophy-winning Hammers managers.

    A place in next season’s Europa League means the club has qualified for Europe three campaigns in a row, for the first time.

    “I actually think the last two years have been an incredible journey,” he said.

    “It’s an incredible achievement to do so well in Europe. You look at some of the very good teams who find it a struggle. It’s great credit, we’ve turned a disappointing season into a super season.”

    Bowen has come a long way from beginning his career at non-league Hereford, and he is planning to party.

    “I’m so buzzing, all of us are just going to go mad I think,” he said. “You have to celebrate.

    “When the final whistle went I just thought ‘this party is going to be crazy’.

    “I’m just a little boy from Leominster who never thought I’d be talking like this. My family are crying and it just shows me how far I’ve come.”

    It was a memorable way to sign off for Declan Rice who is destined to leave this summer.

    He is with the legacy of becoming only the third captain, along with Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds, to lift silverware in the club’s 128-year history.

    The England midfielder has a year left on his contract, and West Ham hold the option of another, but Arsenal are poised to firm up their interest in the coming days.

    The only downside to West Ham’s big night was an object thrown from their end which left Cristiano Biraghi with a nasty cut on the back of his head.

    The incident forced referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande to briefly halt play while a message over the public address (PA) system implored the fans to stop throwing missiles.

    The club “unreservedly condemned” the incident while a UEFA inquest will follow, with charges likely.

    It was a double Cup disappointment for Fiorentina, who were only narrowly beaten 1-2 by Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia last month.

    “We lost two finals playing really well, and it’s a shame,” said coach Vincenzo Italiano. “Tonight, I honestly didn’t imagine it could finish like this.”

  • Europa: Sevilla clinch seventh title, beat Mourinho’s Roma 4-1 on penalties

    Europa: Sevilla clinch seventh title, beat Mourinho’s Roma 4-1 on penalties

    Sevilla football club of Spain have won thrit seventh UEFA Europa title after beating Italian side 4-1 on Penaties.

    Sevilla trailed Roma 1-0 at some points in the game but an own goal from the Italain side helped them come back in the game.

    Paulo Dybala had put the Italian side in front inside 35th minute to become the first Argentine to score in a European final after Lionel Messi in 2008 but parity but an own goal from Gianluca Mancini’ 20 minutes after helped Sevilla secure a 1-1 draw in the encounter and pushed the game to extra time.

    The Spanish side’s record against Italian teams read won nine games of their 13 encounters with the last one against Inter. They were the favourite against Roma, who were vying for their first Europa title since 1991.

    Gonzalo Montiel, who won the World Cup for Argentina with a penalty, took the final kick to win his club side a trophy too.

    It wasn’t without drama though after he missed his first spot-kick before Roma goalkeeper Rui Patricio was found to have encroached and it was retaken.

    Montiel scored his second penalty and ended Jose Mourinho’s 100% record in finals of UEFA competitions.

    The result meant Sevilla will automatically secure a UEFA Champions league spot after finishing below top 4 in the Spanish La Liga.

    Their feat will push Spain’s representative to five in total for next season UCL.

     

  • Roma vs Sevilla: Ancellotti predicts winner of Europa final

    Roma vs Sevilla: Ancellotti predicts winner of Europa final

    Ahead  of tonight’s UEFA Champions League final between Roma and Sevilla, Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti has predicted the winner of the encounter.

    According to Ancellotti, Roma coached by Jose Mourinho will carry the day.

    The match will be played at Puskas Arena between last year’s conference league winner Jose Mourinho and Europa’s highest winner Sevilla.

    Roma are looking to win another Europa Cup trophy one year after winning the Europa Conference League.

    Ancelotti, who played for the Italian club during his career, told Corriere dello Sport: “After a tough moment, Sevilla have done well in the last two months.

    “Sevilla are well organised with a new coach, but Roma have their chances because they have an expert coach in the final. Hopefully they’ll win.”

    Roma have never won the Europa Cup but Sevilla have won the title a record six times.

  • Europa: Roma, Sevilla set up final in Budapest

    Europa: Roma, Sevilla set up final in Budapest

    Italain side AS Roma have reached back to back finals on the continent after playing out a 0-0 draw at Bayern Leverkusen.

    Roma are the champions in the maiden edition of the Europa Conference League following a 1-0 win over Feyenoord at the National Arena in Tirana, Albania last year and they have reached another final in Europe.

    Roma produced a display of extreme resilience to edge past Bayer Leverkusen and reach successive European finals under Jose Mourinho.

    Mourinho masterminded the Italian club’s first European trophy in over 60 years as they won last season’s Conference League in his first campaign in Rome. The Giallorossi – 1-0 up from the first leg – frustrated the Bundesliga outfit throughout the encounter.

    Leverkusen were the only side to threaten a goal throughout the tie and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, but were unable to make the breakthrough against a typically well-drilled Mourinho side – who will play in next month’s final.

    Leverkusen were the only side to threaten a goal throughout the tie and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, but were unable to make the breakthrough against a typically well-drilled Mourinho side – who will play in next month’s final.

    The first half statistics reflected both the home side’s domination of the ball – 73 percent possession – and chances in front of goal – with 12 efforts compared to just one for Roma. It was Moussa Diaby who came closest for the host, the lively forward smashing his effort off the frame of the goal after Rui Patricio was beaten.

    Xabi Alonso’s side continued to see chance after chance pass them by in the second half with Roma happy to drop off, defend their box and allow the home side to fire off chances that were not clear cut.

    In a similar fashion, Sevilla have reached another final in the Europa league after defeating Juventus by 2-1 in Seville.

    The result meant Sevilla won both ties 3-2 on aggregate and will get a shot at the trophy once again.

    Sevilla will face Roma in the Europa final on May 31st, 2023.

  • Europa: Roma beat Leverkusen 1-0, Juventus, Sevilla share spoils

    Europa: Roma beat Leverkusen 1-0, Juventus, Sevilla share spoils

    Federico Gatti’s 97th minute goal earned Juventus a 1-1 draw against Sevilla in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday in Turin.

    Sevilla were going to run away with a 1-0 win before Gatti’s 97th-minute goal earned them a draw in the encounter,

    Moroccan international En-Nesyri finished a sharp counter-attack in the 26th minute to break the deadlock in Turin.

    Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side deserved their lead at the break and although Juventus improved, the Andalucians shut them out well in their bid to take their advantage back to the rowdy Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan next week.

    However Gatti nodded home from point blank range after substitute Paul Pogba headed the ball back into his path from a corner.

    “It’s a shame, given the game that we played, that they levelled in the last play of the match, but it is what it is,” said Mendilibar.

    “We stopped Juventus in every moment and we played well at times too, we have to think about that, not the last moment of the game.”

    Sevilla, who dumped Manchester United out in the quarter-finals, have never been knocked out of the tournament in the semi-final stage.

    The Spaniards, who won the Europa League at the Juventus Stadium in 2014, made themselves at home in the first half.

    The hosts should have taken the lead when Dusan Vlahovic fired over, perhaps put off by Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou’s dive at his feet.

    After that Mendilibar’s side started to impose themselves, with Lucas Ocampos playing a key role.

    The Argentine winger, recalled from his loan at Ajax in January, sent a shot inches wide from close range, before making amends by setting up the opening goal.

    Ocampos drove forward and played a low ball across the area, which Bryan Gil left for En-Nesyri to sweep home.

    The forward has been in sensational form since the World Cup, with 16 goals in 2023 across all competitions.

    “On the counter-attack we were caught out because we didn’t track back and left gaps,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.

    “(We) did well to fight back and get a deserved draw which leaves everything to play for in the second leg.”

    Sevilla were dealt a blow when Ocampos limped off injured shortly afterwards, but stayed on the attack. Wojciech Szczesny tipped over an Ivan Rakitic drive from distance, while En-Nesyri curled narrowly off target.

    Edoardo Bove scored the only goal of the game in the 63rd minute at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, allowing Jose Mourinho’s side to take a slender lead into next week’s second leg in Germany.

    The win gives Mourinho the chance to reach his second European final in as many years as Roma coach after winning the Europa Conference League last season.

    Roma took the win despite having a host of players either out or barely fit to play, with stars Paulo Dybala and Georginio Wijnaldum only coming on in the final 15 minutes to help out an exhausted, largely second-string team.

    The reverse fixtures will be played next week Thursday in Spain and Germany respectively.

     

  • Europa: Check out all qualified teams, fixtures

    Europa: Check out all qualified teams, fixtures

    Juventus and Sevilla will slug it out  in the first Europa League semi-final clash on April 10

    The LaLiga side dumped Manchester United out of the competition on Thursday night with a 3-0 demolition of the English Premier League side in Seville.

    Erik ten Hag’s men had thrown away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 in the first leg of the quarter-final tie.

    Juventus beat Sporting 2-1 on aggregate in their own quarter-final tie.

    Bayer Leverkusen take on Roma in the other semi-final.

    The Bundesliga side saw off Union Saint-Gilloise 4-1 on the night to progress with a 5-2 aggregate.

    Roma needed extra time to eliminate Feyenoord, winning 4-1 in Rome and 4-2 on aggregate.

    Qualified Teams 

    Sevilla (Spain)

    Juventus (Italy)

    Roma ( Italy)

    Bayern Leverkusen (Germany)

    The winner of the UEFA Champions League and the Europa Cup will clash in the Super cup to determine European champions ahead of next season.

  • Europa: Sevilla launch late fightback to draw with Man Utd

    Europa: Sevilla launch late fightback to draw with Man Utd

    Manchester United conceded two late own goals to allow Sevilla to snatch a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final at Old Trafford on Thursday.

    Marcel Sabitzer’s quickfire double in the first half put Erik ten Hag’s team in control of the tie, but Sevilla, record six-times Europa League champions, pulled one back in the 84th minute.

    This was when Jesus Navas’s shot pinged off the feet of Tyrell Malacia and keeper David de Gea into the net.

    Manchester United were reduced to 10 men when defender Lisandro Martinez was carried off injured and Youssef En-Nesyri’s stoppage-time header glanced off Harry Maguire into the goal to give Sevilla a huge lift ahead of next week’s second leg.

    “I think we had the game in hand,” Ten Hag told reporters.

    “We should have scored three or four. . . and then some unlucky moments with injuries. We then conceded two own goals and that’s bad luck.

    “We have to deal with it. Of course, we have to learn that we have to kill the game.”

    Sabitzer, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, netted his first European goal for United in the 14th minute, when he controlled a pinpoint pass from Bruno Fernandes and shot past keeper Bono.

    The Austrian doubled his tally seven minutes later, latching on to a fine pass from Anthony Martial and finishing well.

    Sabitzer, however, said it was tough to find words after his team’s late meltdown.

    “A roller-coaster,” Sabitzer said. “We had to finish the game off, it’s a draw, was not what we wanted, have to go to Seville and get it down there.

    “We had the chances, we were confident in the game and I think we controlled the game, but unfortunately we gave easy goals away.”

    Martinez appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury and was carried off the pitch by two Sevilla players who are his Argentina team mates.

    United, bidding for their second trophy of the season after winning the League Cup, thought they had scored seconds after kickoff, but Jadon Sancho’s effort was disallowed for offside.

    Sevilla, languishing in the bottom half of La Liga, were outplayed in the first half but they nearly got on the scoreboard seconds before the interval.

    This was when De Gea stopped Tianguy Ninazou’s close-range header and Raphael Varane cleared it off the line.