Europa League Round of 16 - 3/13/2014

Scintillating performances throughout Europe today, let's begin with Porto - Napoli. Playing at home, the Portuguese were probably hoping for a lead to take into the second leg with a clean-sheet the best result defensively. Well, they got it! With slightly more possession and opportunities in front of goal, Porto played a tense first half with Napoli absorbing pressure though unable to successfully counter. Finally, in the 57th minute of the second half, Jackson Martinez slotted home for the Northern Portuguese side off of a corner kick to give his side a lead they retained (without adding to it) for the rest of the match. All the same, I would expect Napoli to show more tooth in the return fixture in front of their home fans. If Gonzalo Higuain is actually included in the squad for the game in Italy, I would think the side from Naples will claim victory. Gokhan Inler and Lorenzo Insigne will have to be on their games as well though, if Napoli are to progress much further in the competition. Porto on the other hand will hope that Helton in goal can maintain his record begun this game while coach Luis Castro will hope defender Eliaquim Mangala or veteran striker Ricardo Quaresma will be able to find the back of the net at least once each.

Next up? Basel versus Salzburg! If you thought the 1-0 result between Porto and Napoli was close, the showdown between the last Swiss and Austrian representatives was a nail-biter! A flurry of yellow cards midway through the fist half put the game off of its pace though the visitors did have the lions share of the opportunities. Nevertheless, the defensive stalwarts at Basel ensured their goal net did not bulge. At the same time, either Marco Streller or Valentin Stocker will have to score if the Swiss side want any chance at making it through to the next round. The second leg in Austria will be a tough one and I suspect Jonatan Soriano will be the decisive factor. The injury to Alan is obviously less than ideal for Salzburg, but with Peter Gulacsi in goal, Martin Hinteregger providing much needed energy in the defense, and Sadio Mane in the midfield, things are looking relatively good for the Austrians.

Turning now to my favorite dark horses, Bulgarian side Ludogorets, they appear to have been dealt a hand they cannot win in Valencia. A great deal rested on Ludogorets' home performance, though Valencia's away record is a formidable one. Frankly, the Spaniards just overwhelmed the Bulgarians. Antonio Barragan's 5th minute goal bloodied the hosts, though the sending off of Seydou Keita in the 24th minute did not prove the God-send Lodogorets needed: Roman Bezjak's penalty attempt was saved in the 26th minute while Fede Cartabia made it 0-2 in the 33rd minute. Going in for the half, the Bulgarians had every right to be disappointed in themselves. Sadly, that disappointment was not channeled in a constructive manner: Philippe Senderos made it 0-3 for Valencia in the 59th minute while Juninho Quixada was sent off in the 80th minute for Ludogorets to cap a terrible night for the hosts. Next week, the Bulgarians must support Bezjak better if they have any chance of fighting for pride in Spain - making it to the next round is probably out of their reach. With Juninho out, the likes of Virgil Misidjan and Hristo Zlatinski will have to step up alongside keeper Vladislav Stoyanov and his defense. Otherwise, I see no reason why Valencia shouldn't go ahead and book their ticket for the next round.

Up in England, Tottenham Hotspur really needed a good result against SL Benfica if they had any hope of turning what has been an underwhelming season around. They were unsuccessful in their attempt. Despite 10% less possession, the Portuguese had double the goal-scoring opportunities and almost three times as many efforts that actually tested Hugo Lloris in Spurs' goal. By the numbers, it was only a matter of time before one of those shots found their way in. Turns out, it was Rodrigo who gave Benfica a 0-1 lead at White Hart Lane in the 30th minute. Many of the home fans were probably happy to go in at the half just one down, however the second half quickly saw the English sides situation worsen: Benfica's captain and veteran defender Luisao struck home in the 58th minute to make it 0-2. Christian Eriksen did claw one back for Spurs, but 6 minutes before the end of the game Luisao struck again to bring him level with fellow-veteran Lima at the top of the club's scoring list for the year. Trouble is on the horizon for Tottenham if their performance doesn't improve on the road!

Welcoming Russian minnows Anji Makhachkala to the Netherlands was a positive start to the two-legged tie for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, though they made it as difficult as possible for themselves. Despite 63% of possession, AZ could only score through Aron Johannsson's penalty in the 29th minute. Counter-intuitively, Anji were actually the side with more opportunities, roughly double the amount that the Netherlands' final representative in the Europa League tallied. Frankly, if there had been as many goals as there were cards handed out, it would have been a much better game in my opinion. Having said that, I hope Anji play with a similar style at home; they just might win it! If goalie Esteban isn't on form in Russia, I would hope the members of Anji's relatively unknown squad are able to connect and create something beautiful. A place in the next round may be asking a little much, but if the Russians can keep Johann Gudmundsson and Nick Viergever off of their games, anything is possible - they just need some goals.

French side Lyon's game with the Czech Republic's Viktoria Plzen was an understandably more one-sided affair: the gulf in class was just too great. Although Plzen did deliver a slap to the face with their 2nd minute goal through Tomas Horava, it was in all likelihood a fluke with Lyon going on to dominate possession with 62% of the ball and scoring a total of four times for a 4-1 final scoreline. Gueida Fofana equalized for the French in the 12th minute, a situation remained until 8 minutes after the half-time break. Then, it was Alexandre Lacazette who struck in the 53rd minute before Arnold Mvuemba tacked on a third in the 61st. Just to cement their commanding position, Fofana gave Lyon their fourth goal in the 70th minute to leave Plzen tangled in the ropes going into the second leg. A Czech comeback would probably require the return of Matus Kozacik though the aged back-line is not doing them any favors. It would be great to see some more goals from Milan Petrzela, Stanislav Tecl, Daniel Kolar, or even Tomas Horava, but I doubt any such goals would be anything more than a consolation prize.

Down in Spain, Sevilla versus Real Betis was a domestic encounter on the international stage that saw the hosts fall flat on their face. With 70% of possession, Sevilla lost their heads after Leo Baptistao's 15th minute goal gave the visitors the lead. The number of yellow cards that were accrued by Betis may cause them to be more cautious in the second leg, but a second goal from Salva Sevilla (yes, that is his name; Sevilla may well be kicked out courtesy of Sevilla) in the 77th minute ironed out who was on top. Honestly though, there is no reason why Sevilla (the club, not the player) should just bow out with a whimper. Kevin Gameiro, Vitolo, and Diego Perotti should produce something in the return fixture as Sevilla play regularly in league competition at home to Real Betis. Based solely on today's performance though, I would say Beto should perhaps be rested for the next match and replaced by Javier Varas in goal while I guess I don't see why Daniel Carrico wasn't started.

Finally, another domestic rivalry played out on the world stage: Juventus against Fiorentina! It was a story of two halves with hosts Juve dominating the first after Arturo Vidal gave them the lead in the 3rd minute of the match. Then the Chilean went on to miss what could well have been at least two more goals, providing the visitors with the half-time break to draw up a strategy to take the game to the Bianconeri. Surprisingly, it was Mario Gomez who struck for Fiorentina, in the 79th minute, to make it a 1-1 game as the final whistle blew 13 minutes later. Let's see if the German can make some more goals like that in Brazil! Nothing against the Fiorentina side, but Juventus should just have too much in the bag to get kicked out just like that. Expect an explosive return leg, perhaps an Andrea Pirlo assist, goals from either Pablo Osvaldo, Arturo Vidal or Fernando Llorente (if he plays). Without Giorgio Chiellini the back line does look somewhat less formidable, but with Gianluigi Buffon in goal and a number of talented defenders to call on, Juve are still in this. Have a great weekend!

Europa League Latest! 2/27/2014.

First off I hope everyone is having a great week thus far - happy Thursday and a pleasant weekend to you! Now, for why you all are reading: a round-up of the results from today's Europa League games. Fiorentina were able to see off Esbjerg on aggregate despite a well-fought performance by the Danish side away from home. The fact that Esbjerg left it until the 1st minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half indicates that their Italian hosts were much the better team. All the same, they did hold off wave after wave of assaults from Fiorentina. The Italians had about double the possession and the opportunities as their Danish guests. After a tense 1st half, Josip Ilicic was the man to put Fiorentina ahead in the 47th minute from a set-piece. It should be said that the first leg's 1-3 scoreline in favor of Fiorentina allowed them to play a controlled match to say the least.

Onwards to another Italian representative, Juventus! After a 2-0 home victory, the Europa League Final hosts could well have considered themselves on their way to the next round. Their opponents, Trabzonspor of Turkey, didn't seem to have much in the tank as they hosted Juve and witnessed another 2-0 result, again in the favor of the Italians. Arturo Vidal opened the scoring in the 18th minute while Pablo Osvaldo tacked on a 2nd in the 33rd minute to sink the hopes of many a Trabzonspor fan. The victory means that it will be two Italians facing each other in the next round: Fiorentina hoping to perform well against their domestic rivals.

As for Maccabi Tel-Aviv versus Basel, a 0-0 first leg meant the Swiss side had an advantage going into the return leg at home. The hosts frankly dominated the match, taking a majority of possession but more importantly using it to great effect: Valentin Stocker opened the scoring account in the 17th minute and Basel never looked back. Marco Streller plucked two more peaches in the 2nd half - the 60th and 71st minutes respectively - to make it Basel's night. While Maccabi Tel-Aviv did show some life at the end of the game, they never really looked like the kind of team that deserved to make it into the next round.

Who will Basel be facing though? That'd be Salzburg, of Austria, who absolutely went to town on the Netherlands' Ajax. Following a first leg that saw Ajax lose 0-3 at home, I must admit that opinions were low that they would be able to mount a comeback. And - well - those thoughts were validated with Salzburg winning 3-1 at home. Sure, the Dutch side did have more of the possession, but attempts were very clearly in Salzburg's favor. It all started falling apart in the 56th minute when Mike van der Hoorn put the ball into his own net. True, the Austrians looked the better side throughout the 1st half, but the floodgates finally broke with Sadio Mane making it 2-0 in the 66th minute and Jonatan Soriano striking Salzburg's 3rd in the 77th. While Davy Klaassen did bring the visitors one back in the 82nd minute, it was smooth sailing for the hosts. The lack of any clinical goal-scorers should probably noted as Ajaxs' most pressing problem. That and their defensive frailty that is.

Over to Iberia now where Benfica convincingly dealt with their opposition - PAOK - by a 3-0 scoreline for a 4-0 aggregate. In all honesty though, two things should be noted about the Greeks: first of all, goalkeeper Panagiotis Glykos was the only reason that the scoreline was not more embarrassing. Having said that, much of the blame for why PAOK ended up losing as badly as they did was because Kostas Katsouranis was sent off in the 69th minute. A minute later, Nicolas Gaitan was celebrating Benfica's first goal of the night and Lima and Lazar Markovic added one each in the 78th and 79th minutes respectively. Would the Greeks have been able to pull something out of the hat if their captain had remained on the field? I doubt it. But it happened and Benfica will be facing Tottenham Hotspur in the next round!

Winning 3-2 on aggregate, Spurs honestly edged Ukraine's Dnipro. It could very well have gone the other way. Roman Zozulya actually put the Ukrainians ahead in London for all of about eight minutes of the 2nd half after scoring in the 48th minute. While Christian Eriksen equalized for Spurs in the 56th, the Ukrainians finally broke in the 65th minute: Zozulya had been sent off 2 minutes earlier and Emmanuel Adebayor found a brilliant run of form to make it 3-1 on the day. Unlucky for Dnipro but well deserved for Adebayor and his Spurs teammates.

The other Round of 16 tie will be a face-off between Sevilla and Real Betis after the two Spanish clubs beat back stiff competition from Maribor and Rubin Kazan respectively. In the former, the Slovenians could well have tallied several more strikes if they had their heads on right - Sevilla were not the most well-put-together side today. All the same, Maribor were hammered Jose Antonio Reyes and Kevin Gameiro on either side of the half before the Slovenians finally got through, courtesy of Dare Vrsic in the 2nd minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half. As for Betis' showdown with Kazan, the Spaniards didn't have any easy time against the Russians. Betis' advantage in terms of possession eventually allowed them to tally a couple of their attempts - arriving through Nono and Ruben Castro in the 45th and 64th minutes.

In France, yet another game was decided by a booking with Chornomorets Odesa of Ukraine holding their own until Evgeniy Zubeiko was sent-off with a second yellow in the 76th minute. Jumping on a glorious opportunity, Lyon finally broke the deadlock that had lasted almost 180 minutes with Alexandre Lacazette striking with 10 minutes left to play. Lyon will then face Plzen who saw off Shakhtar Donetsk by an aggregate score of 2-3. While Luiz Adriano helped the Ukrainians keep it close, the Czech Republic will have a representative in the Round of 16 thanks to Daniel Kolar and Milan Petrzela.

In my opinion the tie of the Round of 32 was the one that saw Eintracht Frankfurt and Porto punch out a 5-5 aggregate scoreline with the Portuguese side claiming victory thanks to away goals. It was certainly the way football was meant to be played. As sorry as I am to see Frankfurt drop out, they performed at an excellent caliber. Porto will be facing Napoli in the Round of 16 after the Italians defeated England's Swansea by a scoreline of 3-1 after going 0-0 in England. Insigne, Inler, and Higuain were the ones who made it happen for the Italians - promising an exciting tie when the Mediterranean countries face-off.

After beating Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in Ukraine, Valencia held onto a 0-0 draw in Spain to set-up a date with Bulgaria's giant-slayers Ludogorets who took down Lazio by an aggregate score of 4-3. Scoring early and often, I am really enjoying seeing how far the Bulgarians can go; I wouldn't mind seeing them take Valencia down too! Roman Bezjak is definitely the engine of the machine: 5 goals to his name in this year's competition and he has the support of other unknowns such as Virgil Misidjan and Juninho Quixada. If Vladislav Stoyanov and his defenders can keep things a little tidier in the back, we just might see a miracle.

Last but certainly not least, Anji Makhachkala vs AZ Alkmaar! While certainly putting two of the remaining minnows into the same Round of 16 birth should prove competitive, I would be surprised to see either of these teams make it through the Quarter Final stage. Nevertheless, Russia's sole representative in the Europa League is Anji who got by Genk (of Belgium) through a combination of luck - an own goal to open the scoring in the 64th minute - and skill, courtesy of Olexandr Aliyev. As for AZ, they remain the last team from the Netherlands at this stage of the competition. The fact that they were tested so strenuously by Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic would lead me to tip the Russians as the side who reach the Quarter Finals. Make sure to check back here next week for more of the action!

Europa League Update: November 7th 2013

After the latest fixtures, the Europa League tables are starting to shape up quite nicely. In Group A the likes of Valencia and Swansea look relatively secure in their qualification hopes with 9 and 8 points respectively in comparison to St. Gallen's 3 and Kuban Krasnodar's 2. Group B is being absolutely dominated by a side few will have heard of: Bulgarian side Ludrogorets Razgrad with an astonishing 10 points from 4 games played! Second place is held somewhat firmly by PSV Eindhoven who would be very surprised not to qualify from this group. The Dutch side have 7 points. Chornomorets Odesa and Dinamo Zagreb round out the group with 4 and 1 points each. On to Group C where Salzburg have fought hard for their place at the top with a perfect 12 points to their name - three above closest competitors Esbjerg who have 9 points. Elfsborg and Standard de Liege have had abysmal campaigns this year with a total of 2 points between the two of them. As for Group D, Rubin Kazan have gone quite clear at the top with 10 points - 5 over 2nd place Wigan Athletic. The English side have been severely tested by the likes of Zulte Waregem and Maribor who have 4 and 3 respectively so I would expect some hard fought games coming up in the not too distant future as the fate of the group is decided. Group E has had the opposite story: Fiorentina have been perfect with 12 points, 2nd place Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 9, and Pandurii Targu Jiu and Pacos de Ferreira with 1 each. The only group with a German side at the top, Group F has Eintracht Frankfurt fighting to stay above water with 9 points while the hounds are right on their heels: Maccabi Tel-Aviv have 7, APOEL have earned 4 points, and - rather surprisingly - Bordeaux are at the bottom of the table with just 3 points! The +6 goal difference that the Germans have accrued means that it will take something special for them to not at the very least qualify from this group. Over in Group G Genk of Belgium and Dynamo Kyiv of Russia look like the best bets to get through with 8 and 7. Having said that, if Thun and Rapid Wien take their games up a notch, we might see a spectacular ending to this group. The only other group where a German side have any chance of making it through is Group H where Sevilla currently lead with 8 and Slovan Liberec (of the Czech Republic) have 6. Freiburg sit 3rd with 3 points - within striking distance as they face the Czechs in the Czech Republic and Sevilla in Germany. No one said it was an ideal situation! We'll have to wait and see. Portugal's Estoril Praia sit bottom with 2 points. Onwards to Group I! While not much of a surprise, Real Betis and Olympique Lyon have been unconvincing in getting to their 1st and 2nd positions. While admittedly undefeated each, they have consistently performed in some of the most boring games in the tournament. Portuguese side Vitoria scored 4 in a thorough demolition of bottom of the table Croatian side Rijeka, Lyon and Betis have scored a goal a game - drawing and just barely defeating the bottom of the table side. While I would love to see nothing more than Vitoria make it through - they do have a decent goal difference - at the expense of Lyon, chances are that won't happen. But wouldn't it be great? Groups J, K, and L are each relatively straightforward affairs with the usual suspects performing at or above expectations. In Group J, Trabzonspor of Turkey have remained undefeated alongside 2nd place Lazio as 3rd place Apollon Limassol will be hoping for a miracle with a 4 point gap between themselves and the teams on either side of them: Legia Warszawa have 0 in 4th position. Group K has lived up to predictions with Tottenham Hotspur claiming an 8 goal difference and a perfect 12. Anji Makhachkala have been making a name for themselves as they pick up the scraps - although they still have to face Spurs in England (after losing 0-2 at home in Russia). Be that as it may, they should get at least a point from hosting Moldovan side FC Sheriff. Bottom of the table Tromso with 1 point are left to fight for pride and wonder about what might have been. Last but certainly not least, Group L! Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and PAOK of Greece have moved well in establishing themselves in the group with 8 points each and a +2 goal difference. On the other hand, Maccabi Haifa and Shakhtar Karagandy will most likely be in a hurry to forget this international season since neither of them have shown any sign of improving on their lackluster performances thus far. Make sure to try to catch some of the games!