UEFA Europa League 2025/26 Season

[MorganaX]

Impressive stats from Aston Villa while playing away in the first leg but they still have to watch out for the second leg. LOSC weren't completely weak in the first leg despite conceding at home, the second leg should be full of suspense and drama which why Aston Villa should strive to extend the lead in the second leg else a possible comeback might  happening considering the goal difference is just 1. Forest lost the first leg by 1 goal although there is still high hope to salvage the situation and I hope they find their way back into the tournament in the second leg.

It's a good thing for Aston villa haven gotten the win in the first leg but it doesn't mean it's all over because Losc Lille might become very desperate to the point of not only getting back on level terms but might also knock out Aston villa, this part of the competition is very delicate and the teams involved also have to play with caution knowing that in a match where the goal difference isn't much the opponent may turn things around especially now that the away goal rule is out of the way.

Aston Villa has the home advantage now in the second leg and they would treasure that since they already have the winning stands against Lille, but still there is absolutely no guarantee since Lillle themselves wouldn't want to give up the tie so easily and one thing about this sort of competition, some of the fixtures I don't think even home team advantage counts as teams can go to any stadium and win comfortably if their desire to win is more.

[Egii Nna]

Impressive stats from Aston Villa while playing away in the first leg but they still have to watch out for the second leg. LOSC weren't completely weak in the first leg despite conceding at home, the second leg should be full of suspense and drama which why Aston Villa should strive to extend the lead in the second leg else a possible comeback might  happening considering the goal difference is just 1. Forest lost the first leg by 1 goal although there is still high hope to salvage the situation and I hope they find their way back into the tournament in the second leg.

I was not surprised that Aston Villa won the match against Lille, but I was expecting more goals from them. Aston Villa is in a better form than Lille right now, so I expect them to finish the job at home. I also understand that this football and anything can happen, but looking at the present form, I will favor Aston Villa to qualify, but they still have to be careful and also have to ve at their best if they want to progress to the quarter final.

Aston Villa are good, no doubt about that, but still Lille are also good, so thinking that Aston Villa will just score more goals in an away game that will give them an opportunity to go to the next stage, while getting Lille knocked out, is wild. Because Lille were the ones playing a home game and they won’t disappoint themselves. With the score of 0–1, they will still have an opportunity to come back in the second leg, so winning that game doesn’t determine that Aston Villa will make it to the quarter finals.

[Adams0001]

I was not surprised that Aston Villa won the match against Lille, but I was expecting more goals from them. Aston Villa is in a better form than Lille right now, so I expect them to finish the job at home. I also understand that this football and anything can happen, but looking at the present form, I will favor Aston Villa to qualify, but they still have to be careful and also have to ve at their best if they want to progress to the quarter final.

That is football sometimes you will be expecting the big team to be performing well and achieve victory with a alot of goals but you will find that they are even struggling before scoring goals. You're right currently Aston Villa are more better then Lillie this season but sometimes clubs that you underestimate who probably get the opportunity to eliminate you and you will be feeling surprised so in type of this tough competition you can't see any small club in the competition because if they are small club they can't get the opportunity to qualify to the Europa League and currently they are in the round of 16 in the Europa League and we don't really know who will probably qualify to the next around, but everyone get the believe that Aston Villa will get more chance to achieve the victory and qualify to next stage.

[jostorres]

Since the match will be played at Villa Park, that's a good advantage for them to win the game. If Villa wins at home, they will be in the next round but they need to be very careful to avoid an early goal from Lille. Of course, it wasn't an easy first leg for Aston Villa because Lille defense wasn't weak.

The second leg is not going to be difficult for Aston Villa at home, they are already leading by 1 goal in the away match. Lille are not a team that can threaten them at home when they are behind. We must not forget that nothing is impossible in football. But it is a very difficult task for Lille. Even if Aston Villa's form in the Premier League is not great, I will put them in front. In the Europa League I can see them in the round of 8, i.e. the quarter-finals. They now only need an easy win in the second leg.

This is the thing about first games. Teams that play at home HAS TO win on the first game at home, because away games will be a lot harder. In this case Villa ended up winning their away game, and French side will have harder time next up because Villa will not lose at home. I mean all they have to do is defend and even that would be enough, they can defend with 8 people and still end up not getting any goals conceded and should not be that bad at all. However, this is going to cause a lot of trouble for them if they are not careful but Villa will definitely get a chance to win.

[BALIK]

This is the thing about first games. Teams that play at home HAS TO win on the first game at home, because away games will be a lot harder. In this case Villa ended up winning their away game, and French side will have harder time next up because Villa will not lose at home. I mean all they have to do is defend and even that would be enough, they can defend with 8 people and still end up not getting any goals conceded and should not be that bad at all. However, this is going to cause a lot of trouble for them if they are not careful but Villa will definitely get a chance to win.

Qualifying for the quarter finals will not be a difficult task for Aston villa. Although Aston Villa is not in good form. Their performance  is inconsistent. But Lille is not a strong opponent. We saw  in the first leg match that they could not play well despite being a home match.
Aston Villa managed to secure a win in the away match. But they won by a small margin of 1-0 . It can be expected that they will definitely play well in the home match. Since Lille is not in good form, their chances of winning the second leg match are very low.

[harapan]

I think Scandinavian clubs are a bit underrated and I agree Midtjylland is the one to watch, as they can go far. Another Scandinavian club, Bodo/Glimt, is doing surprisingly well in the Champions League, beating much bigger clubs with no mercy, so maybe Midtjylland can do the same in the Europa League.
But, to be fair, the away win over Nottm Forest is not necessarily as big as it sounds, considering Nottm Forest are not having the best time, and they are in a 6-games without a win streak in the Premier League.
If they advance to the next stage, Midtjylland will face either FC Porto or Stuttgart - not the easiest opponents, but within their reach.

I have being following up on Midtjylland for a while and I must say, they’ve shown a great deal of improvement in their performance. Them winning Nottingham Forest wasn’t at much or a surprised but, I certainly did expect better from Nottingham Forest. This was not the same team that played against Manchester City for sure and now, they’ve got a lot of work to do in the second leg when they play Midtjylland at home. Bodo/Glimt is the one team making the rounds for everybody and if they can keep this consistency, I don’t see how Scandinavian teams would be underrated very much again but, that’s very unlikely.

Ola Aina always disagrees when he's being cooked on the pitch but behold, I caught this one right in the act and moment when he was taken unaware by the Midtjyland player who headed that ball in to get them three solid points.
Bodo Glimt conversation in the Europa League thread lol. I do think Nottingham Forest will be knocked out

[Anayochukwu]

Nice job from Aston villa in this first round, they are more balance now to play Lille at home. To be honest I didn't know that this game would end in favor of Aston villa because many were actually doubting about the game and it was obvious that both of them are almost the same thing but Aston villa took the three points against Lille without any mistake in the game. I don't know why I missed this game because I planned to watch the game, but due to my activities today I couldn't make it to watch the game. Anyways let's see if Lille would make a come back in the second round because they still have some little hope.

Aston Villa is trying to tell us that they have channeled all their energy to the Europa League games, and they are no longer bothered about the outcome of their matches in the Premier League because if they can win the Europa League, it means they will be getting a direct qualification to the Champions League games next season. Lille wouldn't have done anything to Aston Villa because they know that Aston Villa is stronger than them. If Lille could not even get at least a draw at their own home, do you think they can do anything different at Villa Pk? Aston Villa won't even allow any mistakes in the returning leg.

Yes that is what they are trying to tell us because they are doing a great job here than premier league and that is a smart move from them. Instead of them to end empty handed in the premier league it will be better for them to channel their energy in this Europe League and get a free ticket to the champions league direct. Of course they can, are you not seeing the way games are turning around this period? Don't conclude yet because football is full of unpredictable as everything is possible.

[Dump3er]

Qualifying for the quarter finals will not be a difficult task for Aston villa. Although Aston Villa is not in good form. Their performance  is inconsistent. But Lille is not a strong opponent. We saw  in the first leg match that they could not play well despite being a home match.
Aston Villa managed to secure a win in the away match. But they won by a small margin of 1-0 . It can be expected that they will definitely play well in the home match. Since Lille is not in good form, their chances of winning the second leg match are very low.

it shouldn't be, but it is not fully out of reach that Lille scores a goal and parks the bus afterwards. 1 goal difference is never a lost case since everything can be equalized quickly, may that be through a lucky goal or a good attack.

Lille doesn't have the best form possible, but they haven't lost a match in Ligue 1 for a while and won another match in Ligue 1. It wouldn't be the first time that a team like Lille wins such a match against all expectations.

Aston Villa had chances to increase their advantage in the first match, but didn't make use of them. That could backfire, but it is true that Aston Villa is strong when they play at home.

[$weetne$$]

Yes that is what they are trying to tell us because they are doing a great job here than premier league and that is a smart move from them. Instead of them to end empty handed in the premier league it will be better for them to channel their energy in this Europe League and get a free ticket to the champions league direct. Of course they can, are you not seeing the way games are turning around this period? Don't conclude yet because football is full of unpredictable as everything is possible.

Aston Villa has a superior team as compared to others in the Europa, they have a depth that is unmatched with others and typically they have the advantage enough such that if given the needed attention, they could win the title this season as desired, they know that the premier league is already saturated with highly competitive teams and their edge there is very slim but they have a better one here in the Europa, so they redirect their focus.

[Daniel91]

Yes that is what they are trying to tell us because they are doing a great job here than premier league and that is a smart move from them. Instead of them to end empty handed in the premier league it will be better for them to channel their energy in this Europe League and get a free ticket to the champions league direct. Of course they can, are you not seeing the way games are turning around this period? Don't conclude yet because football is full of unpredictable as everything is possible.

Aston Villa has a superior team as compared to others in the Europa, they have a depth that is unmatched with others and typically they have the advantage enough such that if given the needed attention, they could win the title this season as desired, they know that the premier league is already saturated with highly competitive teams and their edge there is very slim but they have a better one here in the Europa, so they redirect their focus.

I must admit that I'm surprised that in the last few pages everyone is commenting exclusively on Aston Villa, as if they have already won the Europa League, and the other clubs are just extras, with no chance of the title.
I wouldn't  agree with that, this competition is of extremely high quality, with many very strong teams, such as Lille, Real Betis, Porto, Lyon, etc. and the final winner is uncertain.
Also, Aston Villa can't focus only on this competition because they also have to ensure a European appearance next season, and they can only do that through a good placement in the domestic league.
Gambling with the idea that they will definitely win this competition and that the domestic league is no longer important to them would be a very risky option for them.

[dezoel]

Scandinavian teams are a bit different, the whole Bodo saga, and other teams like these, they are different because they are not really building a "squad" but more like a team and that means they have a lot of players from their own youth setup and they also have a lot of players who are talented and willing to play for a cheap contract and just fits the system.

Moreover nobody should ignore the fact that they do not have real grass and a decent weather. So when you play on those fake grasses on a freezing weather, of course you are going to have trouble against them.

[Not your key not your BTC]

I was not surprised that Aston Villa won the match against Lille, but I was expecting more goals from them. Aston Villa is in a better form than Lille right now, so I expect them to finish the job at home. I also understand that this football and anything can happen, but looking at the present form, I will favor Aston Villa to qualify, but they still have to be careful and also have to ve at their best if they want to progress to the quarter final.

Aston Villa haven't been in great form lately, and I see their first-leg win as a stroke of luck. Well, even though Aston Villa will be playing at home in the second leg, they can't guarantee a win over Lille, as the one-goal aggregate is very narrow. If Lille scores a goal in the second leg, the match will go to extra time. Therefore, I'm starting to worry about Aston Villa's progress to the Europa League quarterfinals, given their poor Premier League form.

[paco92x]

Now, looking at the results from all of last week’s games, everything is still open. In the best position are Ferencváros with a 2:0 lead against Braga, but that can be turned around—Portuguese teams are tricky at home, as we saw today with Sporting.

My focus will be on Midtjylland to see if they have what it takes to knock out a Premier League team like Forest. In the first game, they played superbly and grabbed a 0:1 win.

[Daniel91]

Now, looking at the results from all of last week’s games, everything is still open. In the best position are Ferencváros with a 2:0 lead against Braga, but that can be turned around—Portuguese teams are tricky at home, as we saw today with Sporting.

My focus will be on Midtjylland to see if they have what it takes to knock out a Premier League team like Forest. In the first game, they played superbly and grabbed a 0:1 win.

I wouldn't really say that Midtjylland's win against Forest is a surprise. Midtjylland achieved a very good result in the group stage of the competition and won third place in the group.
On the other hand, Forest were very weak, only the 13th team in the group stage and so far they have played only 1 good game in the whole competition, against Fenerbahçe away. However, at home against the same opponent, they struggled a lot and were almost eliminated despite a great 3:0 victory away from home.
Considering the current crisis of the game and the results in the domestic league and in the European league, they are not among the favorites of this competition.
In my opinion, Porto, Lille, Astin Villa and Lyon have the best chances to win the competition.

[Altryist]

Qualifying for the quarter finals will not be a difficult task for Aston villa. Although Aston Villa is not in good form. Their performance  is inconsistent. But Lille is not a strong opponent. We saw  in the first leg match that they could not play well despite being a home match.
Aston Villa managed to secure a win in the away match. But they won by a small margin of 1-0 . It can be expected that they will definitely play well in the home match. Since Lille is not in good form, their chances of winning the second leg match are very low.

Maybe Aston Villa were a bit lucky to win the first game against Lille, because they had only one shot on target in the whole match, and Watkins managed to score. So I think Aston Villa won thanks to good defense and Lille’s not so effective attack. In the second leg, since a draw would be enough for Aston Villa, and considering they are not in the best form right now, I can imagine they might even aim to play for a draw. And since Lille will need to come back in the second match, I think both teams could score, especially if Lille manage to get an early goal.

[Not your key not your BTC]

Qualifying for the quarter finals will not be a difficult task for Aston villa. Although Aston Villa is not in good form. Their performance  is inconsistent. But Lille is not a strong opponent. We saw  in the first leg match that they could not play well despite being a home match.
Aston Villa managed to secure a win in the away match. But they won by a small margin of 1-0 . It can be expected that they will definitely play well in the home match. Since Lille is not in good form, their chances of winning the second leg match are very low.

I also predict that Aston Villa will advance to the quarterfinals because they're playing at home in the second leg. While Aston Villa haven't performed well in the Premier League, they've performed better in the Europa League. This is certainly due to Unai Emery, a renowned Europa League specialist. Therefore, I'm predicting Aston Villa will win the second leg against Lille at home, and even advance to the semifinals and final of the Europa League.

[snipie]

Braga 3 - 0 Ferencvaros so the total is 3 - 2 on aggregate.
Braga dominated the first half, especially at the beginning where they scored two goals in less than five minutes followed by a third goal before ten minutes from the end of the first half. At that time, Ferencvaros waked up a little and tried to attack.
There is still 45 minutes in the game and Ferencvaros could return in the score. Nevertheless, that result so far is chaotic for them. Honestly I didn't expect to see such score after the first leg result!

[Richbased]

Braga 3 - 0 Ferencvaros so the total is 3 - 2 on aggregate.
Braga dominated the first half, especially at the beginning where they scored two goals in less than five minutes followed by a third goal before ten minutes from the end of the first half. At that time, Ferencvaros waked up a little and tried to attack.
There is still 45 minutes in the game and Ferencvaros could return in the score. Nevertheless, that result so far is chaotic for them. Honestly I didn't expect to see such score after the first leg result!

Braga made a 4:0 comeback from the 2:0 they lost to Ferencvaros in the first leg which concluded an aggregate of 4:2 which confirms Braga as the first team to reach the Europa League quarter finals. The Portuguese teams are really prepared for the European matches this week because we also saw Sporting Lisbon scaled through a comeback against Bodo/Glimt yesterday in the Champions League and got to the quarter finals of the UCL. FC Porto also got an advantage in their first leg against Stuttgart by winning them 1:2 which means if they can be able to win or draw the second leg, they will eventually reach the quarter finals. The only Portuguese team that was unfortunate is Benfica because they were eliminated in the playoff round by Real Madrid. Braga was very focused and brutal in their match against Ferencvaros which helped them scored 3 goals at halftime before they scored 1 goal in the second half.