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

[baeva]

Barcelona are still a promising team for the next round even though they drew with Napoli by 1-1 in Camp Nou. Because they were really unlucky in the first leg. Barcelona dominated the game most of the time and they were so close to scoring the goal to get ahead. But especially Torres couldn't benefit from those golden opportunities which resulted in a score like this. Napoli must be very contented with this one after playing not very effective. But they shouldn't be so comfortable already now. Because Barcelona still have the potential in themselves to eliminate them.

It was a tense game indeed.... Barcelona had the ball at their feet the whole time and were much more offensive than their opponent but he had a hard time getting past Napoli's defense.
The Spaniard was the one who tied the game from a penalty kick, it's true, but he could have left the Camp Nou as a great hero if they hadn't lost three goals. In the first throw, he was unbalanced, ok! but in the other two opportunities, he was facing the goal, in a good position and, even so, he sent it out .... it was ridiculous !!!

I don't know, which is to be expected. It was obvious to me before the match that the teams were about equal and it was likely to be either a minimum win for one side or a draw. The result on the scoreboard is a draw... And the kind of mistakes you write about few people forgive, I think he had a serious talk with the coach, because maybe thanks to his moments he could have ended the match peacefully, not worrying about the return game

[püsür]

With all due respect to the Rangers, it will be a pity if they go further and not Borussia. Still, Borussia is a pretty big name for the Europa League and I would like to see their confrontation with Sevilla, Napoli, Atalanta, etc. I want to see high-profile rivalries and not constant "underdog vs favorite" right up to the very final games, even if the underdogs sometimes win.

Dortmund concede a goal very easily. You won't be successful if you score goals that easily. In modern football, it is very important to maintain the defensive-offensive balance. The goalkeeper will keep the team alive with the saves he made in a game they played very badly. Whether the defenders have air control or ground play, they must be above a certain level of quality. 6 and 8 are the key positions in modern football. In front of the defence, there must be a player who will play both sides of the game in front of the centre-backs, who will play the ball forward by making good passes, who will be a good central midfielder in terms of his feet and physically. I think Dortmund lacks these aspect of the game, even though of course I believe they are a great team.

[Pulsar77]

Sevilla which are one of the favourite clubs for the title have made a good start to this round. They defeated Dinamo Zagreb home in the first leg by 3-1 and captured a strong advantage already. I don't expect them to make a huge mistake in the second leg. They should be advancing easily. And they are really one of the biggest contenders now. Dortmund are likely to be eliminated now. One of Barcelona and Napoli teams is also going to be eliminated. But it is still early to talk about such things too as the group leaders haven't started to play in the Europa League.

[Trojane]

Dortmund concede a goal very easily. You won't be successful if you score goals that easily. In modern football, it is very important to maintain the defensive-offensive balance. The goalkeeper will keep the team alive with the saves he made in a game they played very badly. Whether the defenders have air control or ground play, they must be above a certain level of quality. 6 and 8 are the key positions in modern football. In front of the defence, there must be a player who will play both sides of the game in front of the centre-backs, who will play the ball forward by making good passes, who will be a good central midfielder in terms of his feet and physically. I think Dortmund lacks these aspect of the game, even though of course I believe they are a great team.

Erling halland remains their biggest fortune for now and from the look of things, he's improving everyday that passes by and that's all to the benefit of the club so I don't really thing they have a problem with thier strikers and wingers too. The problem is with the defenders as you said and I think they need the likes of  ; Declan rice, Marcelo broroviç,fernandinio and the rest of the strong defensive midfielders. If they have a good validate on standby for substitutions, then they can have a different gameplay entirely

[mv1986]

I was actually quite shocked by the performance of Dortmund in this match because I expected them to win the match. And here we have a 4-2 scoreline with Dortmund losing. I think that they were good enough in the offense but the defense was really questionable. I do hope that they show a better performance in the second leg. And their defending needs to be improved ASAP.

Dortmund is literally falling apart. The reason they are still second in the Bundesliga is because the other teams are also relatively weak, like Leverkusen who lost against Mainz today. Without Haaland Dortmund really seems to be lost.
Regarding Barcelona, that is what I expected. A lot of people here believed that Barcelona is doing better again and will beat Napoli, but no. The second game in Napoli will be extremely hard with Italian fans backing the team. I think this was it for Barcelona.

Dortmund would have been rather low in the table if there were better teams in the Bundesliga. But the 2 main competitors are Bayern Munich and Dortmund. And Dortmund is also at a lot lower level than Bayern Munich.
And I think in the 2nd leg Barcelona will try their hardest. I know it would be really hard for them to win.

-

The defeat at home to Rangers was indeed very bad, especially since Rangers managed to score 4 goals. This should be a concern for
Dortmund's defense which played very poorly in that match. I also hope that in the second leg Dortmund can improve their very fragile defense,
because if the front line is productive but not accompanied by a solid back line performance, it will be difficult for Dortmund to win the game.
But Dortmund are also too dependent on Erling Haaland, I noticed every time Dortmund played without Haaland the performance was not so good.
Hopefully Haaland can play again soon, because there are quite a lot of important matches that must be played by Dortmund. Not only in
the second leg of the Europa League Dortmund must win, but Dortmund also must not lose points in Bundesliga matches to be able to catch up
with Bayern's points.

We all can see which way Dortmund are shaping to be right now. And I wonder when in the future Erling Haaland is not going to be there what will happen to this team.
Right now they seem to be absolutely nothing without Erling Haaland. And to be honest I know no this might offend some Dortmund fans but Erling Haaland deserves a better team. I know that a team cannot win without having good attackers to score goals but scoring goals are ultimately going to mean nothing if you cannot stop the opponent from scoring.

Well and now that we are just discussing the bad performances of Borussia Dortmund, they literally kill Borussia Mönchengladbach with 6 - 0. Dortmund is best described by a roller coaster. One day they play absolute shit and it hurts your eyes watching them, the other day they just win a game with 6 - 0. They really lack stability in their games over a longer period of time. I don't know when they won like 4 games or so in a row for the last time. That must have been an eternity ever since.

[Ebede]

Barcelona are still a promising team for the next round even though they drew with Napoli by 1-1 in Camp Nou. Because they were really unlucky in the first leg. Barcelona dominated the game most of the time and they were so close to scoring the goal to get ahead. But especially Torres couldn't benefit from those golden opportunities which resulted in a score like this. Napoli must be very contented with this one after playing not very effective. But they shouldn't be so comfortable already now. Because Barcelona still have the potential in themselves to eliminate them.

With the help of young and new players, Barcelona is now a strong team. And behind it all is Xavi's mastermind. He is a great coach. In a very short time he has stabilized a broken team. The Barcelona forward is strong enough now. However, midfield and defense are somewhat irregular. Hopefully Xavi will solve this problem from a great distance. If they can strengthen the defense, Barcelona will be able to beat Napoli in the second leg.

Xavi really stabilized Barcelona's game in a short time and raised it to a higher level.
The real results of his work will be seen only next season and that is why this match with Napoli came too early for them.
Barcelona still has chances against Napoli but realistically Napoli is closer to moving on to the next stage of the competition.
Barcelona has started this season very badly, and doubt and unrest have crept in among the players, and because of that the players are not yet showing everything they can and know.

This season has been bad for Barcelona but I strongly believe that they will bounce back to winning ways. I see them progress to the next stage and with the help of Adama and Abamayang, I see them getting to the finals of the Europa League. The world will be shocked when the second leg between them and Napoli will be played they will see a different Barcelona on the pitch.

[Wawa2013]

Barcelona are still a promising team for the next round even though they drew with Napoli by 1-1 in Camp Nou. Because they were really unlucky in the first leg. Barcelona dominated the game most of the time and they were so close to scoring the goal to get ahead. But especially Torres couldn't benefit from those golden opportunities which resulted in a score like this. Napoli must be very contented with this one after playing not very effective. But they shouldn't be so comfortable already now. Because Barcelona still have the potential in themselves to eliminate them.

With the help of young and new players, Barcelona is now a strong team. And behind it all is Xavi's mastermind. He is a great coach. In a very short time he has stabilized a broken team. The Barcelona forward is strong enough now. However, midfield and defense are somewhat irregular. Hopefully Xavi will solve this problem from a great distance. If they can strengthen the defense, Barcelona will be able to beat Napoli in the second leg.

Xavi really stabilized Barcelona's game in a short time and raised it to a higher level.
The real results of his work will be seen only next season and that is why this match with Napoli came too early for them.
Barcelona still has chances against Napoli but realistically Napoli is closer to moving on to the next stage of the competition.
Barcelona has started this season very badly, and doubt and unrest have crept in among the players, and because of that the players are not yet showing everything they can and know.

This season has been bad for Barcelona but I strongly believe that they will bounce back to winning ways. I see them progress to the next stage and with the help of Adama and Abamayang, I see them getting to the finals of the Europa League. The world will be shocked when the second leg between them and Napoli will be played they will see a different Barcelona on the pitch.

Even though Barcelona have played badly this season, Xavi has slowly made Barcelona play better. Many people were disappointed when Barcelona
only a draw against Napoli, even though Napoli was not a weak team, even in Serie A Napoli one of the champion candidates. This means that
Napoli is not an easy team to beat. After seeing Barcelona play incredible when they beat Valencia, it makes me quite optimistic that Barcelona still
has a chance to win in the second leg against Napoli. At least Barcelona's players are now getting their morale up, and it looks like Aubameyang
has started to adapt to the Barcelona game. I'm getting impatient waiting for the Napoli vs Barcelona match which will take place in a few days.

[joker_josue]

This season has been bad for Barcelona but I strongly believe that they will bounce back to winning ways. I see them progress to the next stage and with the help of Adama and Abamayang, I see them getting to the finals of the Europa League. The world will be shocked when the second leg between them and Napoli will be played they will see a different Barcelona on the pitch.

I don't think we should see such a big difference, in the type of game Barcelona plays, between the first and second legs.
The game will be in Italy, and Napoli will likely perform even better with the support of their crowd.

But the tie is open, both teams can win, we'll see how they perform tactically and physically in that match.

[ropyu1978]

Sevilla which are one of the favourite clubs for the title have made a good start to this round. They defeated Dinamo Zagreb home in the first leg by 3-1 and captured a strong advantage already. I don't expect them to make a huge mistake in the second leg. They should be advancing easily. And they are really one of the biggest contenders now. Dortmund are likely to be eliminated now. One of Barcelona and Napoli teams is also going to be eliminated. But it is still early to talk about such things too as the group leaders haven't started to play in the Europa League.

Sevilla is already one step towards the next round, but Sevilla must not make a mistake because in the second leg they will play at home to Dynamo Zagreb, they play at home for sure they will play loose, and they will also play more aggressively, because of the support from Supporters can make them more aggressive in the match that will take place on the 25th, Antonio Martial scored his debut goal with Sevilla, Martial dimmed at Manchester United and now shines in Seville, I hope Martial continues to shine with Sevilla for a long time.

[fullhdpixel]

This season has been bad for Barcelona but I strongly believe that they will bounce back to winning ways. I see them progress to the next stage and with the help of Adama and Abamayang, I see them getting to the finals of the Europa League. The world will be shocked when the second leg between them and Napoli will be played they will see a different Barcelona on the pitch.

I don't think we should see such a big difference, in the type of game Barcelona plays, between the first and second legs.
The game will be in Italy, and Napoli will likely perform even better with the support of their crowd.

But the tie is open, both teams can win, we'll see how they perform tactically and physically in that match.

In recent matches, we have big change from Barcelona playing style now they are on track and with the introduction of Auba they have fresh energy which is helping them for having some better spot in last ten matches they lost only 1 and have 19 very important points in La Liga just because of this now they are at fourth spot as they play in first league against Napoli in Europa Cup first league match it's not bad at all, but now they need to do some very special in second league even Napoli is not easy side at home but still both teams have fair and equal chance for qualifying in next round.

If Barcelona survives here then surely we will have some good from them in this competition because here they have chance of winning something for this worst season.

[Cryptmuster]

I don't think we should see such a big difference, in the type of game Barcelona plays, between the first and second legs.
The game will be in Italy, and Napoli will likely perform even better with the support of their crowd.

But the tie is open, both teams can win, we'll see how they perform tactically and physically in that match.

At the moment, the teams are approximately on the same level. Napoli will have the advantage playing at home, while in Barcelona are starting to good play players, that was buy in from the latest transfer market. Any team can win, but Napoli have a chance to fight for the Scudetto again, so they can push the EL into the background.

[skarais]

Xavi really stabilized Barcelona's game in a short time and raised it to a higher level.
The real results of his work will be seen only next season and that is why this match with Napoli came too early for them.
Barcelona still have chances against Napoli but realistically Napoli is closer to moving on to the next stage of the competition.
Barcelona have started this season very badly, and doubt and unrest have crept in among the players, and because of that the players are not yet showing everything they can and know.

Xavi has brought significant changes to Barcelona during his tenure this season, but I cannot expect him to achieve perfection in his first season as Barcelona coach. Now Barcelona has returned to the top 4 of the Laliga standings and it is a good achievement with him after previously Barcelona could not be expected.

About the Europa League competition, I can think otherwise with you even though Napoli will be playing at home. The first leg Barcelona played better and I also really believe Barcelona can beat Napoli in Italy to qualify for the next round. The supportive thing at the moment is that Barcelona's form has improved and it's a good hope to see them beat Napoli although many people are not sure about that.

[Slow death]

This season has been bad for Barcelona but I strongly believe that they will bounce back to winning ways. I see them progress to the next stage and with the help of Adama and Abamayang, I see them getting to the finals of the Europa League. The world will be shocked when the second leg between them and Napoli will be played they will see a different Barcelona on the pitch.

I don't think we should see such a big difference, in the type of game Barcelona plays, between the first and second legs.
The game will be in Italy, and Napoli will likely perform even better with the support of their crowd.

But the tie is open, both teams can win, we'll see how they perform tactically and physically in that match.

In recent matches, we have big change from Barcelona playing style now they are on track and with the introduction of Auba they have fresh energy which is helping them for having some better spot in last ten matches they lost only 1 and have 19 very important points in La Liga just because of this now they are at fourth spot as they play in first league against Napoli in Europa Cup first league match it's not bad at all, but now they need to do some very special in second league even Napoli is not easy side at home but still both teams have fair and equal chance for qualifying in next round.

If Barcelona survives here then surely we will have some good from them in this competition because here they have chance of winning something for this worst season.

honestly I don't see barcelona winning the Europa League, that's because they are still not well and there are better teams in the Europa League that can win and I think that on the 2nd, napoli will beat barcelona, ​​napoli needs to improve their defense a little more them to be able to beat barcelona more comfortably, it won't be an easy game if they don't have good defense, while barcelona don't have good defense and they make disastrous mistakes when they have the advantage, that's why I believe napoli will win

[joker_josue]

honestly I don't see barcelona winning the Europa League, that's because they are still not well and there are better teams in the Europa League that can win and I think that on the 2nd, napoli will beat barcelona, ​​napoli needs to improve their defense a little more them to be able to beat barcelona more comfortably, it won't be an easy game if they don't have good defense, while barcelona don't have good defense and they make disastrous mistakes when they have the advantage, that's why I believe napoli will win

I agree. Barcelona will not make additional efforts to try to win the Europa League, the focus will continue to be on improving their ranking in the Spanish league. Also, looking at all the clubs that are in the Europa League, there are several that are playing much better than Barcelona this season. That's why I don't see Barcelona reaching the final.

[BALIK]

Xavi really stabilized Barcelona's game in a short time and raised it to a higher level.
The real results of his work will be seen only next season and that is why this match with Napoli came too early for them.
Barcelona still have chances against Napoli but realistically Napoli is closer to moving on to the next stage of the competition.
Barcelona have started this season very badly, and doubt and unrest have crept in among the players, and because of that the players are not yet showing everything they can and know.

Xavi has brought significant changes to Barcelona during his tenure this season, but I cannot expect him to achieve perfection in his first season as Barcelona coach. Now Barcelona has returned to the top 4 of the Laliga standings and it is a good achievement with him after previously Barcelona could not be expected.

Xavi has certainly done well with the current squad of Barcelona because in this same season before he came as a coach we didn't even believe that Barcelona might be in the top six.

Now, I know that Barcelona is not doing very well but still doing better than before in my opinion and we also cannot expect Barcelona to perform as they did in the past when the squad was really great and a lot of players were in their prime.

About the Europa League competition, I can think otherwise with you even though Napoli will be playing at home. The first leg Barcelona played better and I also really believe Barcelona can beat Napoli in Italy to qualify for the next round. The supportive thing at the moment is that Barcelona's form has improved and it's a good hope to see them beat Napoli although many people are not sure about that.

But against Napoli, I don't think Barcelona will be able to win because first of all it's an away match and they don't have any advantage from the home match and secondly Barcelona has a lot of problems in their defensive line. And I think Napoli is going to exploit it.

[kro55]

honestly I don't see barcelona winning the Europa League, that's because they are still not well and there are better teams in the Europa League that can win and I think that on the 2nd, napoli will beat barcelona, ​​napoli needs to improve their defense a little more them to be able to beat barcelona more comfortably, it won't be an easy game if they don't have good defense, while barcelona don't have good defense and they make disastrous mistakes when they have the advantage, that's why I believe napoli will win

I agree. Barcelona will not make additional efforts to try to win the Europa League, the focus will continue to be on improving their ranking in the Spanish league. Also, looking at all the clubs that are in the Europa League, there are several that are playing much better than Barcelona this season. That's why I don't see Barcelona reaching the final.

If Barcelona wants to win that Europa League they need to beat Napoli in the second leg first. because that is a really big obstacle for them right now. They don't have any advantages going into the second leg against Napoli and they will also be playing in away conditions.

So, things certainly don't look so good for Barcelona. And also the defense of Barcelona is not very good at the moment. But on the other hand, Napoli has also some problems regarding their defense. so, if Barcelona can make something happen and exploit this certain weakness of Napoli, they might have a chance.

[blackened515]

One of the match am hoping to watch on Thursday is actually the Napoli Vs Barcelona match. The First leg ended in 1-1 draw. Barcelona was lucky enough to get a penalty kick, which Torres probably scored, and saved the club from losing. But, Napoli will struggle to win in the second leg, since they will be hosting. Nevertheless, the game still be tough because Barcelona won't want to be dropped out of the Europe League. While, judging from the performance Barcelona exhibited against Valencia. Shows that Napoli have to been well prepared.

[Pulsar77]

There are three days to go for the rematch in Napoli's stadium. In the first leg, Barcelona played really effectively but it didn't result in a victory for them. Napoli got ahead first and Barcelona ended the game by scoring the equalizer. Napoli are keeping their advantage for now but they wouldn't be too comfortable already. Because they must be aware that Barcelona are performing impressively these days. And if they play like they played against Valencia in the La Liga last, then they are very likely to eliminate Napoli.

[baeva]

There are three days to go for the rematch in Napoli's stadium. In the first leg, Barcelona played really effectively but it didn't result in a victory for them. Napoli got ahead first and Barcelona ended the game by scoring the equalizer. Napoli are keeping their advantage for now but they wouldn't be too comfortable already. Because they must be aware that Barcelona are performing impressively these days. And if they play like they played against Valencia in the La Liga last, then they are very likely to eliminate Napoli.

Pardon me, but in what sense does Napoli retain its advantage? Wasn't the away goal rule abolished a long time ago, the result is a draw as we see it, or is it still the rule in the Europa League? Barcelona's last game in La Liga showed just how much form they are gaining, with rookie Barcelona also scoring three goals (Aubameyang).

[Tumanggor]

There are three days to go for the rematch in Napoli's stadium. In the first leg, Barcelona played really effectively but it didn't result in a victory for them. Napoli got ahead first and Barcelona ended the game by scoring the equalizer. Napoli are keeping their advantage for now but they wouldn't be too comfortable already. Because they must be aware that Barcelona are performing impressively these days. And if they play like they played against Valencia in the La Liga last, then they are very likely to eliminate Napoli.

after hearing the news that Garcia might not be able to play in the second LEG against Napoli I was worried that the barca defense would be very weak

Xavi must have a good strategy against Napoli, especially when facing the Napoli strikers who are famous for being very sharp when playing at home