The Indian Panorama

Tag: Europa League

  • Europa League: Barcelona held by Frankfurt, 10-man West Ham draw with Lyon

    Europa League: Barcelona held by Frankfurt, 10-man West Ham draw with Lyon

    Barcelona failed to win an away match in the Europa League for the first time after it was held 1-1 by 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the quarterfinals. Ferran Torres salvaged the draw in the second-tier European competition with an equaliser following a series of fluent passes around the box in the 66th minute on Thursday.

    Barcelona was knocked out of the lucrative Champions League in the team’s first post-Lionel Messi season. It is playing for the first time in the Europa League and never won its precursor, the UEFA Cup, reaching the semifinals on four occasions but not getting to a final.

    Frankfurt won the UEFA Cup in 1980.

    Rebuilding under recently hired coach Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona has relied on big away performances to get to the last eight, beating Napoli (4-2) and Galatasaray (2-1) on the road after first-leg home draws.

    In other games, 10-man West Ham also drew 1-1 with Lyon. The Hammers reached the quarterfinals of a European competition for the first time since 1981 after eliminating six-time champion Sevilla.

    Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso saved a penalty and a follow-up attempt but he couldn’t keep out an own-goal by Davide Zappacosta from the resulting corner as Leipzig salvaged a 1-1 draw.

    Also, Braga beat Rangers 1-0.

    In the Europa Conference League, Roma, one of the favorites to win UEFA’s new third-tier competition, failed to get its revenge at Bodø/Glimt and lost 2-1.

    The Norwegian club routed Roma 6-1 in the group stage for Jose Mourinho’s biggest loss as a coach. Bodø/Glimt also earned a draw in the return match in Italy, and has eliminated Celtic and AZ Alkmaar in the knockout stage.

    Also, Leicester was held 0-0 at home by PSV Eindhoven, Marseille beat PAOK Thessaloniki 2-1 and Slavia Prague earned a 3-3 draw at Feyenoord.

              Source: Reuters

  • Barcelona sweep Napoli aside to make Europa League last 16

    Barcelona cruised into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday, February 24, after comfortably seeing off Napoli 4-2 to go through 5-3 on aggregate in a serious show of force. The Catalan giants were on top almost from the off in Naples thanks to Jordi Alba expertly finishing a lightning counter-attack from a Napoli corner, and Frenkie de Jong’s superb long range effort effectively ended the tie with three quarters of the match to play. Xavi’s thrilling side could have had more before Lorenzo Insigne briefly gave the hosts hope from the penalty spot mid-way through the first half, and Gerard Pique made absolutely sure there would be no Napoli comeback on the stroke of half-time. A sobering night for Napoli, who are chasing a first Serie A title in three decades, was capped just before the hour mark by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, impressive up front for a dynamic Barca team which looks like it can go all the way in the competition. “We dominated we for 90 minutes and that’s the first time we’ve done that since I became coach,” Xavi told reporters. “It’s a win over a team which I repeat is a Champions League-level team, one which does not concede many goals and is fighting for the league title.”

    -Source: AFP

  • Mkhitaryan helps Manchester United to draw in Russia

    Mkhitaryan helps Manchester United to draw in Russia

    ROSTOV-ON-DON (TIP): Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagged a precious away goal as Manchester United came away from their trip to Russia with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie against Rostov on March 8.

    On an awful pitch, the state of which had United manager Jose Mourinho fuming on the eve of the game, Mkhitaryan turned in the opener 10 minutes before half-time.

    But Aleksandr Bukharov levelled for the home side in the 53rd minute at the Olimp 2 stadium, keeping Rostov hopes alive ahead of next week’s return at Old Trafford.

    The build-up to the match had been overshadowed by United’s complaints about the playing surface and about concerns travelling fans could be targeted by Russian hooligans.

    However, the evening passed off without incident inside the ground, where a little over 200 United supporters were in attendance along with ex-United assistant boss Carlos Queiroz.

    “It was a very good performance in relation to the conditions. It was impossible to play better, impossible to play a passing game,” Mourinho told BT Sport.

    “We played what the game demanded and we played well. We made one defensive mistake.

    “I remember as a kid some matches like this in Portugal — non-league and amateur pitches. To see my players coping with it and the humility to fight for every ball is a good feeling for me.

    “We have an open result for the second leg with a little advantage for us. There are no injuries.”

    The result saw the visitors extend their recent unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 games as Mourinho made seven changes to the team held by Bournemouth last weekend.

    One of those brought back into the starting line-up was Mkhitaryan, and it was he who swept United in front in the 35th minute from close range after good build-up play involving Marouane Fellaini and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

    Nevertheless Rostov, who are seventh in the Russian Premier League but had already won at home to Ajax and Bayern Munich in Europe this season, drew level thanks to a fine goal shortly after the break.

    Timofei Kalachev delivered a ball over the top that was controlled on the chest inside the box and then fired home by Bukharov to secure the draw.