⚽UEFA Europa League Discussion Thread -- 2021/22 Winners: Eintracht Frankfurt!

[swogerino]

I think the biggest surprise of yesterday was Rijeka winning against Alkmar and it was their only victory from all their games.Probably Alkmar took things a bit easier than they should have and the result of the game was the most shocking of all the games of yesterday.

[snipie]

I think the biggest surprise of yesterday was Rijeka winning against Alkmar and it was their only victory from all their games.Probably Alkmar took things a bit easier than they should have and the result of the game was the most shocking of all the games of yesterday.

Yea I expected them to win and still wonder how they lost this determination match vs a team that failed to get 3 points out of 5 previous games... Same for Roma. At the end it is Europa League, 2 random 2 bet

[Iranus]

I think the biggest surprise of yesterday was Rijeka winning against Alkmar and it was their only victory from all their games.Probably Alkmar took things a bit easier than they should have and the result of the game was the most shocking of all the games of yesterday.

This is really surprising and unexpected. Az Alkmaar played well throughout the match. But in the end, they could not win.  I would say, the best player for HNK Rijeka in the match was their goalkeeper Nevistic.

[Daniel91]

In a dramatic match, Rijeka beat AZ with a goal in the last minute!
What a drama and the first victory of Rijeka.
If they had just had a little more luck in some group matches, they might have even been able to win second place and continue competing.
If Dinamo wins tonight, this could be a fantastic evening for Croatian football.

My boys (Rijeka) were good tonight and they brought us some well deserved points to finish this European season. It was unrealistic to expect more of them in a group with Napoli and Sociedad.

Dinamo won 3:1 tonight so as you said very good day for Croatian football. Should help with our coefficients in the years to come as well. They will be a little sad since they conceded first goal in Europe this season but first place in the group will erase that quickly. They were the only team that did not concede a single goal in group stages of both CL and EL. CSKA and Feynoord were really disappointing in this group.

I'm just sorry that next season Croatia will not have representatives in the Europa league (Dinamo will start in CL).
At least,  this season Dinamo and Rijeka had very good results.
I don't remember when we had such situation last time,  that 2 clubs from Croatia won in the group stage on the same day.
 

[Lordhermes]

I think the biggest surprise of yesterday was Rijeka winning against Alkmar and it was their only victory from all their games.Probably Alkmar took things a bit easier than they should have and the result of the game was the most shocking of all the games of yesterday.

The both team ended up not qualifying at all.
But AZ Azkmaar on the other end is good club that plays fantastic games knowing already that they are out whether win or loss, so they were every vulnerable for Rijeka to win them.

[-CryptoViking-]

Shame, Dinamo was 15 minutes away from a unique record. To make it worse, a Croatian player playing for CSKA scored that goal - the only one Dinamo has conceded in 6 group stage games.

Rijeka did great as well, it seemed that their draw at Anoeta in the 5th game would kick Sociedad out of the group stage. But Rijeka played really well and got their 1st win against Alkmaar - deserved, considering they played well in most of their games.

Great result for Croatian club coefficient, hopefully Dinamo continues with great results in the knockouts as well.

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed cos of it, but it was visible that they are about to concede, they stopped playing for a bit and it was enough to concede. Overall I am more then happy with what Dinamo managed to pull of in the group stage and there could be more good results in the spring if the draw goes well.

[cryptofrka]

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed cos of it, but it was visible that they are about to concede, they stopped playing for a bit and it was enough to concede. Overall I am more then happy with what Dinamo managed to pull of in the group stage and there could be more good results in the spring if the draw goes well.

Of course, silly records don't mean much. I only wanted them to reach it because they are the owner of another record as well - but a negative one.
Along with Deportivo la Coruna (2004-05 season) and Maccabi Haifa (2009-10 season), they are the only other team that was unable to score a goal in the knockouts. They didn't score one during the 2016-17 CL group stage in a group with Juventus, Sevilla and Lyon, finishing the competition with a 0-15 goal difference.

Since they already had the negative record, I thought it would have been nice to have a positive one as well. It would have shown the progress made since that 2016 season.

[Daniel91]

Shame, Dinamo was 15 minutes away from a unique record. To make it worse, a Croatian player playing for CSKA scored that goal - the only one Dinamo has conceded in 6 group stage games.

Rijeka did great as well, it seemed that their draw at Anoeta in the 5th game would kick Sociedad out of the group stage. But Rijeka played really well and got their 1st win against Alkmaar - deserved, considering they played well in most of their games.

Great result for Croatian club coefficient, hopefully Dinamo continues with great results in the knockouts as well.

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed cos of it, but it was visible that they are about to concede, they stopped playing for a bit and it was enough to concede. Overall I am more then happy with what Dinamo managed to pull of in the group stage and there could be more good results in the spring if the draw goes well.

They stopped playing too early and just waited for the end of the game.
The opponent knew how to punish it.
Nevertheless, Dinamo achieved a surprisingly good result and with a lot of optimism can wait for the competition to continue.

[tyKiwanuka]

These are the matchups for the Round of 32:


Source: https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/news/0262-1084518d0356-6b2988d91fbf-1000--fixtures-and-results/

Some good ones, which used to be played in CL in the past iirc, like Olympiacos vs PSV and Benfica vs Arsenal. I am looking forward to Salzburg vs Villareal and Young Boys vs Leverkusen, which should be exciting with quite some goals scored.

As to who will advance, I am favouring all the teams on the right apart from maybe Brugge, Eindhoven and Villareal.

[LGD2Business]

Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal
Manchester United
AC Milan
Napoli
Roma

My guess is one of these teams become champion this year. Either Italy or England will get the cup.

[LTU_btc]

As to who will advance, I am favouring all the teams on the right apart from maybe Brugge, Eindhoven and Villareal.

I pretty much agree with your predictions, though there a lot of time left until the games and many things can change - injuries, covid, changes of managers and etc.
These pairs that you mentioned looks 50/50 for me. And I defintely wouldn't bet on MU and especially Arsenal. Real Sociedad - MU should be interesting, after all Sociedad is one of leaders in La Liga, so they may give challenge for United.
Slavia - Leicester should be good game to watch, both teams play attacking football. Maybe Slavia isn't big name in Europe, but it won't be easy for Leicester.

[Cacingkemi]

What a match, Barcelona against PSG! That should already be a final. 50-50, I think.
Barcelona could beat PSG with 3-0, but it can also be 0-3

[nikola22]

really poor draw for Real Sociedad because Manchester United is not that rival you want to see in 16th finals. good draw for Shakhtar Donetsk because Maccabi Tel Aviv is less experienced team.

[ILuckyGuyI]

There are really good matchups like Real Sociedad-Manchester United, Benfica-Arsenal and Lille-Ajax. There will be many people who think like Manchester United will go on easily but I don't think that way. Real Sociedad are really ambitious this season. They are one of the best playing teams in La Liga this year. It will be very hard for them but I believe they can eliminate Manchester Utd. As for Benfica-Arsenal, both teams have played really good so far in EL. Arsenal are terrible in Premier League this season. They might want to concentrate on EL and be the champion. But I don't think that they can succeed in it. In my opinion, Benfica will eliminate them. Lastly, the result Ajax got against Atalanta really surprised me. They just threw their chance of qualifying out of the group in CL. Now, they may not be as motivated as being in CL. So, Lille have already been playing good in this tournament and I think they will manage to eliminate Ajax even it will not be easy for them.

[snipie]

Real Sociedad - ManU!! what a bad luck for both! Seeing the other face to face, this peer appears to be a nightmare, at least seeing the others, there is a classic favourites team!

really poor draw for Real Sociedad because Manchester United is not that rival you want to see in 16th finals.

Definitely that one match shouldn't be played that early!!

[nelson4lov]

Ac Milan, Napoli, club Brugge, Rangers and Roma might qualify to the next round considering majority of their opponents are no match for them. For Man Utd, I don't think it would be much of a problem for them to get past Real Sociedad. Considering they were shockingly removed from the UCL during the last lap, this UEL is their chance at redemption and Sociedad doesn't stand a chance. I don't know why I'm having doubts about Ajax beating Lille.

[Shasha80]

Ac Milan, Napoli, club Brugge, Rangers and Roma might qualify to the next round considering majority of their opponents are no match for them. For Man Utd, I don't think it would be much of a problem for them to get past Real Sociedad. Considering they were shockingly removed from the UCL during the last lap, this UEL is their chance at redemption and Sociedad doesn't stand a chance. I don't know why I'm having doubts about Ajax beating Lille.

Regarding Manchester United who finally left the Champions League, it was unexpected, but seeing the Manchester game which relies too
much on Bruno Fernandes. And also there are internal problems related to Paul Pogba which naturally affect Manchester United's performance
in the Champions League. Now that Manchester United must play in the Europa League against Real Sociedad, Manchester United should be superior.
But if Manchester United are still playing poorly as shown in the Champions League there is a possibility that Manchester United can be defeated
by Sociedad.

[dre1982]

Ac Milan, Napoli, club Brugge, Rangers and Roma might qualify to the next round considering majority of their opponents are no match for them. For Man Utd, I don't think it would be much of a problem for them to get past Real Sociedad. Considering they were shockingly removed from the UCL during the last lap, this UEL is their chance at redemption and Sociedad doesn't stand a chance. I don't know why I'm having doubts about Ajax beating Lille.

Ajax won few years ago twice against Lille but this year I am also not sure if they can beat them again. Since their last matches Ajax sold a lot of good players.

[SFR10]

As to who will advance, I am favouring all the teams on the right apart from maybe Brugge, Eindhoven and Villareal.

How about Sociedad? I think they have what it takes to upset Man U and as a Gunner myself, I'm not that confident with our game against Benfica either ^{[they haven't lost a single game while playing at home in UEL for a very long time, and given that Arsenal's recent home form is just "LLLL", it's going to be a tricky one]}.

~Snipped~

Wrong thread

[cryptofrka]

I also feel Benfica has what it takes to go past Arsenal. Arsenal is in full disarray, they can't get a good result even when they are playing well.

Sociedad-United is a tricky draw as well, I feel sorry for Sociedad. They are playing well this season and I considered them a dark horse of the competition but United really is a tough opponent, especially so early in the competition.

Dinamo has a real chance against Krasnodar and I expect them to go through. Lucky draw, one of the worst teams in the competition.