Photo: Sixteen teams are still in contention for this season’s Europa League with the quarterfinalists to be decided over the next to days. (Getty Images)
After a long break due to the pandemic caused by Covid-19 and the cancellation of some fixtures, the Europa League resumes tomorrow and continues on Thursday, with a total of eight games over the two days.
While some teams go into their return legs with a sizable advantage some of the ties are evenly poised and should make for some fascinating contests.
Wednesday matches
Manchester United go into the return leg against LASK at Old Trafford with a massive five goal advantage. With Ole Gunnar Solksjaer obviously favouring this competition, he is likely to send out a strong enough team the finish the job and ensure safe passage through to the quarter finals.
United closed the premier league season on a high, finishing third and qualifying for the Champions League, something that didn’t seem possible in February. They will be buoyed by that achievement and look to continue their fine play on Wednesday.
After being overpowered at home in the first leg, it may be a matter of honouring the fixtures for the Austrians who will need a miracle to overturn this tie against a rampant United team that has been scoring goals for fun, since the restart in June.
Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Wolfsburg 2-1 in the first leg and will be keen on building on that away win that they had over the Germans back in March. The Ukrainian champions will be looking to make a deep run in this years’ competition and come into the game on the back of three wins and a draw in their last four games.
Wolfsburg ended their domestic campaign with two losses in their last three games and having been inactive since the end of June, will be hard pressed to turn things around in what is expected to be a tough away assignment.
Copenhagen lost 0-1 to Istanbul Basaksehir in the reverse fixture and will be hoping that familiar surroundings will enhance their chances of turning things around. Neither team has played since their respective leagues came to an end on June 26th. The Turkish team will hope to hang on to their one goal advantage and make it into the final eight.
With Italy being their first European country to be hit hard by Covid-19, the first leg between Inter Milan and Getafe was not played. Both teams will contest a single-leg fixture in order to advance.
After a second place finish in Serie A, Inter will be looking to make winning this competition a priority. Romelu Lukaku finished the season with 23 goals and will look to continue his amazing form in front of goal.
Getafe finished La Liga in 8th place and so will need to win this competition to play in Europe next term. They will go into the game will equal motivation as their opponents.
Thursday Matches
Sevilla finished fourth in La Liga, tied on points with third place Atletico Madrid and will contest the Champions League next season. With that bit of business out of the way, they will now turn their attention to their single leg tie against Roma.
The Italians have not qualified directly for the Champions League because of a fifth place finish in the Serie A and so will need to win this competition to be among Europe’s elite next season.
This sets this tie up to be a very fascinating contest on Thursday and should be a treat for both sets of fans to watch on television.
Basel overran Frankfurt 3-0 in the first leg of their tie and will expect to keep the Germans at arms-length in the return leg, especially playing at home. For the Swiss team a spot in the quarter finals seems a sure thing at the moment, but they will have to guard against complacency to prevent their dreams of advancing from going up in smoke.
Frankfurt knows that this is a defining moment in a season that has failed to live up to expectations and will leave it all on the line in their attempt at an amazing comeback.
Bayer Leverkusen ended the domestic seasons as runners-up in the German Cup final to Munich. They will want to erase the memory of that heartache, with a win over Rangers. With a first leg 3-1 advantage, the odds are strongly in their favour to complete the job.
Young Rangers coach Steven Gerrard, can become an instant legend at the club by overturning this deficit against the powerful Germans, but even the former Liverpool legend will know that it’s easier said than done.
The evenly poised tie between Wolves and Olympiacos may just be the tie of the day after the teams ended 1-1 in the first leg.
Wolves had provisionally qualified for the Europa League after finishing seventh in the English Premier League, but following Arsenal’s FA Cup finals win on Saturday, they must now win this competition to play in Europe next term.
With Champions League football the prize for finish first in the Europa League, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men won’t need any other motivation to get over the line and into the last eight.
The Greek campions won their domestic league on a canter and will be full of confidence, even though the game is being played in England. With no spectators allowed, there won’t be any real home advantage for Wolves and this certainly levels the playing field for the visitors who will fancy their chances of making the last eight.
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