Tag Archives: Europa League

The Premier League mid-table’s race for Europe: How much do each club need to qualify?

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Bournemouth’s matchday revenue is limited by the size of their ground
“The Premier League title race promises drama in the 2025-26 season’s final four rounds, much like the anxious battle to avoid relegation. For those sitting more comfortably between those extremes, there is still the tantalising prize of European qualification to chase. Seven clubs, mainly comprising an unlikely gaggle of hopefuls, face a scrap for spots in the three UEFA competitions next season, with a surprise Champions League place potentially up for grabs. For the second season in a row, the Premier League’s top five will qualify for Europe’s elite club tournament, but finishing sixth could be enough this time, too. Aston Villa kicking on from their semi-finals place and winning the Europa League while also finishing in fifth would see a Champions League slot handed to the team who come sixth, based on UEFA’s European performance spot (EPS) system. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)

Arsenal, Atletico… and Reims? Ranking the ‘biggest’ clubs who have never won the Champions League

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“Atletico Madrid and Arsenal are meeting in this season’s Champions League semi-finals. A place in the final in Budapest at the end of May is at stake, of course, but so too is making history for both sides. Atletico and Arsenal, who play their first leg in Madrid tonight (Wednesday), are arguably the two biggest clubs never to have won the Champions League or its forerunner, the European Cup. Atletico have been finalists three times, Arsenal once, and both will envy the likes of Crvena Zvezda, PSV and Steaua Bucharest, who have all claimed the continental title. Each of those three would be considered ‘smaller’ clubs than Atletico or Arsenal, as would two-time winners Porto. But Porto and, for example, Hamburg and Feyenoord, could retort that their size can be measured by their trophy cabinet. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
Franz Beckenbauer (left) shakes hands with Abelardo of Atletico Madrid ahead of the European Cup final replay in Brussels

Multi-club ownership in the spotlight after European sanctions hit hard

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Crystal Palace fans protested against Uefa after being demoted from the Europa League
“Uefa is facing pressure to push back its deadline for separating ownership structures after a turbulent summer in which a handful of clubs, including Crystal Palace, were denied access to European competitions due to multi-club ownership rule-breaches. It is understood that a number of smaller sides within multi-club operations will lobby Uefa to put back the 1 March date by which they must demonstrate compliance with the regulations. …”
Guardian

How Postecoglou perfected Tottenham’s defensive setup to win the Europa League

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“There will be many memories of Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League triumph, the club’s first trophy in 17 years. One of them will be the change in tactical approach during the knockout stages, which saw Spurs become a more ruthless and efficient team. … The biggest “moment” of last night’s match fell Tottenham’s way, when Brennan Johnson put them in the lead towards the end of the first half, but it was the ‘good organisation’ and ‘clear game plan’ provided by Postecoglou and his staff that guided them to victory. …”
NY Times/The Athletic

Arda Guler: Choir-boy looks, thunderous foot and the hearts of Ancelotti, Montella and Turkey

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“Giorgi Mamardashvili pawed the free kick away. As he did, his Georgian team-mates ran over to celebrate as if he had scored. His compatriots in the press tribune in the Westfalenstadion turned to their colleagues, grasped their arms and said: ‘The best in the world. The best goalkeeper in the world.’ Mamardashvili was the hero when Georgia qualified for a European Championship for the first time since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. When the 23-year-old goalkeeper flew to his left and saved Tasos Bakasetas’ penalty in the play-off against Greece, he flew his nation to Dortmund too. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)
Guardian: Arda Guler brings the thunder as Turkey survive storm to beat Georgia

Tear gas, cages and midnight lock-ins: The reality of being an away fan in Europe

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“Penned in cages. Tear-gassed by police. Forced to queue for hours by heavy-handed stewards. Locked in stadiums until midnight and enduring transport chaos. This has been the reality of life for travelling supporters in European competition this season, with seemingly every fanbase having a horror story at their treatment by host clubs or local security forces. When set against a general backdrop of disorder across the continent — from fatal stabbings in France to games being played behind closed doors in Greece or called off altogether in Turkey — it appears that life for away fans in Europe is grimmer than ever. So, what is the reality? In the last week, The Athletic attended three games in two countries — Napoli vs Braga and Atletico Madrid vs Lazio in the Champions League, and Real Betis vs Rangers in the Europa League. This is what we discovered. …”
The Athletic

Eurowatch: Paulo Fonseca’s Lille rediscover their rhythm to end November on a high

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“Lille have regained their stride. Until Sunday night, November had been a frustrating month for Paulo Fonseca’s team. They had been held in Marseille, dropped points carelessly at home to Toulouse and, in between, failed to beat Slovan Bratislava in the Europa Conference League. But Lille ended the month well, proving too sophisticated for Lyon at the Groupama Stadium. They produced a stylish attacking performance to move up to fourth in Ligue 1 and the 2-0 win also offered a reminder of how watchable their head coach’s brand of football can be. …”
The Athletic

The cautious contenders: How Nice became the most effective team in Ligue 1

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“Every season, Ligue 1 has a surprise package. This season, it is Nice. A plucky underdog story? Not exactly. They are bankrolled by INEOS, British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company, who took over in 2019, and are playing their 22nd consecutive Ligue 1 campaign. Nice have recorded top-half finishes for eight years in a row but never truly challenged for the title or had any European success. …”
The Athletic

England are real Euro 2024 contenders, a fact Southgate’s carping critics ignore – Jonathan Wilson

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“… Then suddenly something clicked, England started posting scores of 350+ as standard and began beating the best sides in the world. Just as the thought began to crystallise that in a World Cup on home soil they might not actually just be genuine contenders but perhaps even favourites, an astonishing generational talent became available to them in Jofra Archer. …”
Guardian

How Italy won Euro 1968: Catenaccio, a coin toss and a goal worthy of any final

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“This is the third in a series about the 16 triumphant teams in the European Championship, ahead of the 17th edition in Germany next year. So far, we’ve looked at the USSR in 1960 and Spain in 1964. This time, it’s the turn of Italy. The point of this series is to redress the balance — the history of the World Cup is incredibly storied and famous, while the history of the European Championship feels entirely unknown to many. And there’s no better example of that than Italy’s triumph in the European Championship of 1968, which seems entirely forgotten by almost everyone. …”
The Athletic

How Spain won Euro 1964: Unheralded manager, Franco’s approval and Luis Suarez

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“This is the second in a series about the 16 triumphant teams in the European Championship ahead of the 17th edition in Germany next year. Last time, the focus was the USSR in 1960. Four years on, Spain are victorious. The previous edition of the European Nations Cup featured the USSR receiving a bye at the quarter-final stage because General Franco was so afraid of them beating Spain on home soil that he ordered the Spanish side to withdraw. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Toulouse 3 Liverpool 2: VAR row, Endo and Tsimikas flop and Klopp’s plan falls apart

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“This was supposed to be the night that Liverpool secured their Europa League knockout qualification — instead, they delivered one of their worst recent displays under Jurgen Klopp to slump to a shock defeat, and one clouded by controversy. The visitors deservedly trailed at the interval through Aron Donnum’s 36th-minute goal and things did not improve after half-time. …”
The Athletic
BBC – Toulouse 3-2 Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp angered by ‘chaotic’ performance – and media conference (Video)
The Athletic: Liverpool’s away form is becoming a problem – so what’s going wrong? (Video)