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Tag: Europa

  • Arsenal’s season now has clarity after Europa League exit – Arteta

    Arsenal’s season now has clarity after Europa League exit – Arteta

    Arsenal’s exit from the 2022/2023 Europa League has brought “clarity” to their season and the squad must now focus on their English Premier League title charge, manager Mikel Arteta says.

    Arsenal and Sporting Lisbon drew 1-1 in London and finished 3-3 on aggregate in the tie before the Portuguese club advanced to the quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty kicks shootout.

    Arsenal have been eliminated from all three Cup competitions they were involved in.

    But they are five points clear in the league and in position to win a first English title since 2004.

    They have 11 games left to play, starting with the visit of Crystal Palace on Sunday.

    “It’s a huge blow, but it brings clarity to the season,” Arteta told Arsenal’s website.

    “It’s 11 games to play for, 11 Premier League games, and a big final against Crystal Palace. The focus has to be there, the energy has to be there and learn from tonight.

    “… we have to learn from it, but the best thing is now the reaction and show the same commitment, more quality and play better against Crystal Palace to beat them.”

    Arteta was dealt a double injury blow on Thursday when Takehiro Tomiyasu had to be substituted early on and fellow defender William Saliba limped off shortly after.

    “Tomiyasu looks pretty serious, from his reaction straight away and what he said to me,” Arteta told reporters.

    “Obviously, it’s very early and difficult to know. William, I don’t know. He had some discomfort and could not carry on. So, we had to take him off.”

  • Europa: Facing Man Utd, most difficult fixture – Xavi

    Europa: Facing Man Utd, most difficult fixture – Xavi

    FC Barcelona’s manager Xavi says the club have been handed the toughest possible draw after being paired with Manchester United in the Europa League’s knockout round play-offs.

    Barca will compete in the Europa League after the turn of the year as a result of their failure to advance from a UEFA Champions League group containing Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.

    They have now suffered successive group-stage eliminations from the UEFA Champions League for just the second time, having also done so under Louis van Gaal in the 1997/1998 and 1998/1999 campaigns.

    The Blaugrana were beaten by eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt in the last eight of the Europa League last term, and Xavi said they had been unfortunate once again following Monday’s draw.

    “We will have to compete, going to Manchester against a really tough rival,” Xavi said ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Osasuna in La Liga.

    “It’s a historic rival that has grown a lot with the arrival of Erik ten Hag, with great individual players. We have been given the most difficult rival, yet again, in the Europa League.

    “It’s a massive challenge for us, our players will probably be more motivated against a strong team.”

    Barca’s next European tie will see them reunited with their old foe Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 20 goals in 34 games against the Blaugrana.

    He scored against them in La Liga (nine), the UEFA Champions League (two), the Copa del Rey (five), and the Supercopa de Espana (four).

    Xavi refuted suggestions the Manchester United striker is in decline in spite of his struggles this season, adding: “He seems to me to be a great player who has marked an era, and he can still make a difference.”

  • Europa League: Barcelona to face Manchester United for a place in round of 16

    Europa League: Barcelona to face Manchester United for a place in round of 16

    The rivalry between Catalan giants Barcelona and English Premier League side  Manchester United will continue in the UEFA Europa league.

    Both teams will face each other for a slot in the Europa League round of 16

    United’s failure to win Group E has pitted them against a team relegated to the competition from the Champions League and Barcelona finished third behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.

    Barcelona v United.

    Juventus v Nantes.

    Sporting v Midtjylland.

    Shakhtar Donetsk v Rennes.

    Ajax v Union Berlin.

    Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco.

    Sevilla v PSV.

    Salzburg v Roma.

  • Europa: Jesus left out of Arsenal squad

    Europa: Jesus left out of Arsenal squad

    Gabriel Jesus has not traveled with the Arsenal squad for their Europa League tie against Bodo/Glimt.

    The Brazilian was a doubt for the game after picking up a knock against Liverpool at the weekend.

    Now it appears that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has taken the decision not to risk Jesus’ fitness for the mid-week clash against the Norwegian outfit.

    “We thought that with everything he’s been through in the last few weeks it was better that he stayed at home,” Arteta told reporters during his pre-match press conference

    “A few players that were injured,” Arteta added on other absences.

    “You will find tomorrow. I can’t give you everything.”

  • They told me Zaniolo was a disaster – Mourinho

    They told me Zaniolo was a disaster – Mourinho

    AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho admits he feared losing Nicolo Zaniolo over the summer.

    The midfielder laid on two assists for their Europa League win at HJK Helsinski last night.

    Asked if he was worried Zaniolo could be leaving before the summer market shut, Mourinho said: “The director (Tiago Pinto) never came to me to say: ‘this possibility exists’. Never. You read so many things, especially in the summer.

    “I knew he was an important player for us, with different qualities than the others. He’s the only one with this physical potential. Yes, I was a little scared. Not so much because the manager never said there were possibilities.

    “He’s a good guy, they told me he was a disaster as a professional. Either it was lies or he changed. Never saw him arrive late, never problems.”

  • Europa: Ronaldo happy to score first goal for Manchester United

    Europa: Ronaldo happy to score first goal for Manchester United

    Portugal and Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo was in happy mood on Thursday night after swcoring his first goal of the season in the club’s 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol.

    The goal against  Sheriff Tiraspol goes down in record book as his first ever in Europa league.

    The former world footballer of the year took to his social media handle to express his happinness at scoring his first goal of the season.

    His post reads  “Happy to score and help the team win! 3 important points! Well done lads.”

    The Portugal international led the attack for Manchester United in Moldova on a comfortable night for Erik ten Hag’s men as they picked up a 2-0 win and their first points of their European campaign.

    Jadon Sancho put Manchester United in the lead with a fine finish, before Ronaldo made it two from the penalty spot.

    The football icon was delighted to hit the back of the net and secure the victory.

    The victory pushed Manchester United to second on the group E standing, after losing its first game to group leaders Real Sociedad of Spain.

     

  • Premier League gain extra Europa spot

    Premier League gain extra Europa spot

    The Premier League’s seventh-placed side this season will be placed in the Europa Conference League.

    Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 2-0 in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley to set up a date with Liverpool – who beat Manchester City 3-2 a day earlier – on May 14.

    But the Blues’ win in North London has affected the European picture for next season.

    The winner of the FA Cup automatically earns a spot in the Europa League.

    And Thomas Tuchel’s side look nailed on to secure third position in the Premier League to qualify for next term’s Champions League.

    That means there would be a Europa League spot up for grabs, with that going to the sixth-placed top-flight side now.

    Had Crystal Palace won the FA Cup, they would have joined the fifth-placed Premier League side in Europe’s second tier.

    But with the Eagles crashing out and a top-four side destined to win the oldest domestic cup competition in the world, an extra European spot has opened up for English sides.

    That means the team which finishes seventh will now grab a spot in the Europa Conference League.

  • Barca expected to beat Eintracht Frankfurt in style – Xavi

    Barca expected to beat Eintracht Frankfurt in style – Xavi

    Barcelona coach Xavi admits his team is expected to defeat Eintracht Frankfurt in second-leg of their Europa League quarterfinal encounter.

    On reaching the final, Xavi said, “For the whole group, a step forward to achieve one of the objectives of the season. We wanted to win the Champions League but circumstances have led us to play this one and we are excited.

    “Yesterday we watched it from home. It must hurt us not to be in the Champions League and that’s what we work for. It would be an important step for the whole group to win tomorrow. Show ourselves that we can compete in Europe.

    “But this is Barca. We have the obligation to win and play well. It’s not worth it for us to win 1-0 and in the 90th minute. We are Barca. It’s about being excellent in everything we do. There is no comparison. Barça is the most difficult and demanding club. We have an obligation to win by playing well. This is the difficult thing in football. That is why this is the most difficult club in the world.”

  • People now think Barca are Europa favourites – Adama Traore

    People now think Barca are Europa favourites – Adama Traore

    Barcelona attacker Adama Traore was delighted with victory at Napoli.

    Barca won 4-2 in Naples to win the Europa League playoff 5-3 on aggregate.

    “The team has been intense, they have worked, we have been very effective. This is the path and the line to follow,” said Adama.

    “It’s important to also be dangerous on the counterattack. Our game is to have the ball and look for free spaces, but if we have that quality and exploit our speed, it’s good for us. We have to keep growing as a team.

    “People may think that we are favourites. Our mentality is to win any match, that is the requirement.”

  • Europa: Barca defeat tough in front of our fans – Napoli coach

    Europa: Barca defeat tough in front of our fans – Napoli coach

    Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti concedes Barcelona deserved their victory in Thursday night’s Europa League playoff.

    Barca won 4-2 in Naples to win the tie 5-3 on aggregate.

    “We have to be honest, they made far fewer mistakes than we did in possession. We made more mistakes than we are accustomed to, but Barcelona did really well in moving the ball around,” Spalletti told Sky Italia.

    “They were also aided by the initial incident on the corner, then De Jong curling it into the top corner, which made it all more difficult.

    “When we got back into it after the penalty and were in our best period of the game, we conceded the third out of nowhere.

    “It’s very disappointing, because we had a real Napoli atmosphere tonight, we worked so hard for everyone to be back here together again and it leaves us doubly disappointed. Perhaps it’s even more disappointing than the result.

    “We also did some things well, but were unable to get the game back on level terms, because every time we got close to them, they’d knock us back down with a KO.”

    Spalletti also said: “I am always the first person responsible when the team doesn’t have the right attitude.

    “Perhaps in those moments we tried to play it out from the back forcefully, but instead we didn’t find the right passes in the final third and they were very aggressive, especially down the right.

    “This high press blocked our exits and after those goals, Barcelona could carry on secure in their status.”