The UEFA Europa League has always been the Champions League’s younger sibling vying for the attention of the footballing masses. The competition is well aware of its second fiddle status, but over the past few years it has made strides in increasing its relevance. From giving the champion automatic qualification to the Champions League to increasing exposure, this year’s edition has proven to be overflowing with drama as we head into the Round of 16. Here is what the Europa League has provided in entertainment value thus far and what is still to come.
In the eyes of many a football purist, the Barclays Premier League is nowhere near the “best” league in the world. But what English clubs do best is bring eyeballs to games. With three teams (Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United) still kicking in the Europa League, England will surely bring the drama and viewership to the tournament. It didn’t hurt that each of those clubs had some tense moments over two legs in the Round of 32.
Spurs and Italian side Fiorentina were one of the showcase fixtures of the round. The second and third placed sides in their respective leagues played a cagey, cat and mouse match in Florence that ended 1-1. Mauricio Pochettino’s men were eliminated from the FA Cup in between legs, so his side came full force to ensure advancement. What happened at White Hart Lane was a master clinic on passing and attacking football, one that Fiorentina could not stifle. A Harry Kane-less squad ran roughshod over their opposition and cruised to the next round 3-0, 4-1 on aggregate.
While Spurs/Fiorentina brought the flair and panache of the beautiful game, Liverpool and Augsburg brought the tension. There was very little quality over both legs of the tie between the Reds and their Bundesliga counterparts, but the two clubs provided plenty of nail biting moments for their fans. After a 0-0 first leg, James Milner gave Liverpool a fifth minute advantage from the penalty spot in the home second leg. For the next 90 or so minutes, nobody could convince a Liverpudlian that the lead would hold up. Shot after shot rained down on them and each retaliatory effort from the home side proved futile. Alas, the three time UEFA Cup winners (the Europa League’s previous name) held on and the Anfield faithful could let out a sigh of relief.
Relief was also the theme of Manchester United’s knockout stage. Many wanted there to be a relieving of duties for Louis Van Gaal after Man U’s season bottomed out in a 2-1 loss against Midtjylland. It is a different type of relief being felt by fans of the Red Devils though after they have since turned their recent fortunes around. Marcus Rashford led the line of a makeshift United side that looked more resided to defeat rather than attempting to reverse their luck. Instead, the youngster netted a fortuitous brace on his debut and the rout was on. 5-1 ended up as the final tally and LVG will at least liver to see the Europa League Round of 16.
It was more than just the English clubs making noise in the Europa League. Spain’s La Liga put forth quite the advertisement for their country’s superiority. Gary Neville’s Valencia put 10 past Austria’s Rapid Vienna over two legs. Los Che had nine goals in their previous ten games across all compeitions. Two time defending champion Sevilla dispatched of Norwegian side Molde with ease. Villarreal were able to best long time Serie A leaders Napoli. Sabin Merino’s heroics for Athletic Bilbao against Marseille made it a clean sweep for Spain.
Germany won its duel with Portugal as both Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen defeated FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon respectively. Belgians Anderlecht won the only match to go to extra time against Greek gods Olympiacos. Two goals in the extra 30 minutes sealed their path to the next round. But since we are talking about drama and quality of play, no matchup embodied that more than Basel against St. Etienne.
St. Etienne had the edge over the Swiss powerhouses after a five goal first leg, 3-2. The two away goals looked to provide the deciding factor for Basel as Luca Zuffi put home a picturesque free kick to level the tie and put Basel through. Teams would trade waves of pressure and each team would go down to 10 men late on. After civility was restored though, St. Etienne pulled back ahead. An close range effort from Moustapha Sall in the 89th would surely be enough for the Greens, or so they thought. Just moments later Zuffi was the man on the spot again as he scored in injury time to give Basel another year of moving on in the Europa League.
As you can see, the Europa League has given us plenty of entertaining football, but the best may be still to come. Just look at the fixtures to come in the second and third weeks of March.
- The blood feud renewed between Manchester United and Liverpool
- A clash of motivational masterminds as Spurs face Borussia Dortmund
- Sevilla’s run at a threepeat goes through the resilient Basel
- Villarreal and Bayer Leverkusen try to balance Europa League with keeping themselves afloat domestically
You can follow along with all these games on GameView (up in that right hand corner), but do yourself a favor and watch these games with some friends. The Europa League is providing great conversation between fans of all teams and that won’t stop in the Round of 16. Twitter we be aflutter during the proceedings at both @TREVORutley and @sportsftb.