The failure of the Portuguese teams and the joy for Ukrainian fans

The successes of the Portuguese clubs in the current Europa League draw could not please Russian fans. While the domestic teams together completed their performance in European competitions after the group stage, competitors in the sixth place in the UEFA coefficient table were represented in the playoffs of LE by four teams at once.

It seemed that their path in the elimination matches would be very long. However, all the Portuguese teams unexpectedly flew out of the second most important European Cup in the first stage of the playoffs. Failed to get further even the current champion of the country, “Benfica”.

The Lisbon in the first meeting lost to Shakhtar on the road - 1: 2 and at home they intended to take revenge. At first, everything went according to their scenario. After the first half, the hosts fought with a similar score, and at the beginning of the second they scored the third goal.

However, the Pitmen quickly reduced the backlog after filing a corner. And 20 minutes before the end, the hero of the first game Alan Patrick restored the status quo on the scoreboard and buried the hopes of Benfica for reaching the 1/8 finals. Thus, Shakhtar not only made their way to the second round of the LE playoffs for the first time in four years, but also provided all possible assistance to Russia.

The first of the Portuguese teams to perform in European competitions completed “Braga”. The offender of Spartak at home with a minimum score lost to the Rangers. At the same time, the guests at the very end of the first half did not realize a penalty, but after an hour of the game they still scored such an important goal.

Following from the European Cups flew Porto. Wards Sergio Conceisau in their field conceded three goals from Bayer, and answered with only a goal of prestige in the performance of Mussa Marega. The former Spartak striker Ze Luis did not help the hosts either, who spent more than an hour on the field, but was not noted for productive actions.

However, if the failures of these teams can still be understood, then the final defeat of Sporting from Istanbul Bashaksehir could not be predicted, because in the first match the Lisbon at home won a landslide victory - 3: 1.

However, the former team of Fyodor Kudryashov was not going to give up and in the first half he scored two goals necessary for passing to the next stage. Including ex-defender of “Liverpool” and “Zenith” Martin Škrtel managed to distinguish themselves.

After the break, Sporting managed to score the necessary goal. As a result, the denouement was incredible, and the main character in the hosts was the Bosnian striker Edin Vishcha. In the 91st minute, he accurately converted the match into overtime, and in the end of the second added half he realized a penalty.

Thus, Portugal completed the performance in European competition. Teams from this country managed to score 10,300 points in the UEFA odds table and break away from Russia by 3,900 points. The Portuguese will receive another point of advantage after subtracting the results of the 2015/16 season. Thus, getting around them next year will be incredibly difficult.

Incredible events in London and five goals in Manchester

Perhaps the most spectacular match of the game of the day took place in London, where Arsenal hosted Olympiacos. It seemed that after a minimal victory on the road, the Gunners would not experience any special problems with the vice champion of Greece.

However, the guests were not going to give up and at the beginning of the second half they evened the score by the sum of two meetings, taking advantage of the moment when filing a corner. Not only that, they could well have scored a second goal, but they lacked luck. The hosts had their moments.

As a result, the fate of the confrontation was decided in extra time. At the 113th minute, local fans were delighted with Pierre-Emerick Obameyang, who scored an incredible goal with a shot through himself.

But that was not the end. The denouement came in the 119th minute when the guests as a whole team came to the corner. The fight for the ball was won by Londoners, but the opponent immediately returned it to himself. Followed by a cross into the penalty area and an accurate shot by Youssef El-Arabi, who opened on the verge of an offside position.

In the latest attack of the match, Arsenal already had a chance to perform a miracle, but Obameyang somehow missed the target from a couple of meters. So the “gunners” suffered the first defeat of the year and for the first time in history flew out of the European Cups after a guest victory in the first match.

But Manchester United, on the contrary, did not experience any problems. After a draw in an away meeting with Brugge, the Mancunians at home defeated the team from Belgium - 5: 0. Double was issued by Fred, and Nigerian Odion Igalo, who moved to England to rent from Shanghai Shenhua, scored a debut goal for Manchester United.

The double success of Germany and the victory of Inter in the empty stands

Germany and Italy still retain all the representatives in the second most important European competition. Of the German teams, in addition to Bayer, Wolfsburg took a step further, leaving no chance for the Swedish Malmö on the road - 3-0.

The company should make them Eintracht, which in the first meeting defeated Salzburg. The return game was postponed to Friday due to a storm warning. The wind speed in the city reached 120 km / h.

As for the Italian teams, both Inter and Roma stepped into the 1/8 finals. Moreover, the Milanese were forced to take "Ludogorets" in the empty stands due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. This did not stop the nerazzurri from gaining the upper hand - 2: 1, although the Bulgarian champion managed to open an account in the middle of the first half.

“Roma” was also the first to miss from the Belgian “Ghent”, but after a few minutes it recouped thanks to the exact shot of Justin Kluivert, the productive transfer of which was given by Henry Mkhitaryan. This was enough to win the sum of two meetings.

Departure of Ajax and the futile victory of Espanyol

Spain, like England, lost one representative in the Europa League. They became the "Espanyol" fighting for survival in the Example. CSKA rival in the group stage of the tournament in the first match of the 1/16 final conceded four unanswered goals from Wolverhampton, and the fate of the confrontation was, in principle, a foregone conclusion.

However, the Catalans finally slammed the door and beat their opponent at home thanks to the hat-trick of Honatan Caleri. For the Argentine striker leased from Uruguayan Deportivo Maldonando, these balls became their debut in European competition. Moreover, for the first time in his career he designed a hat-trick.

But another Getafe team from Spain, on the contrary, unexpectedly knocked out Ajax from the fight. Last year, the Amsterdam team reached the semifinals of the Champions League, but this did not manage to break through the first round of the LE playoffs.

Given the defeat in the first match (0: 2), the hosts needed to score as early as possible, but they missed in the fifth minute. Now they needed four goals, but Ajax failed to score more than two. AZ Alkmar also left the tournament and lost on the road to the Austrian LASK - 0: 2. Thus, the Netherlands, like Portugal, completed the fight in European competition.

Uncounted goal of Cluj and 36 shots on goal

Another sensation could be the departure of a five-time winner of the Seville trophy. The wards of Julen Lopetegui were very close to losing “Cluj” and ending the performance in LE ahead of schedule. The first series of confrontation in Romania ended in a productive draw (1: 1), which gave the Spanish team a minimal advantage.

However, at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, the guests did not even think to sit on the defensive. As a result, two rivals struck 36 shots on goal. The denouement came a minute before the end of regular time, when Konstantin Paeun-Alexandru nevertheless printed out the owners' possessions.

However, the judges after watching the replays and a lengthy meeting canceled the goal, deciding that the midfielder played along with his hand. In addition, the second yellow card was received by the guest footballer Mihai Bordeyan.

Glasgow unexpected denouement

Even more incredible was the ending of the match between Celtic and Copenhagen. In six minutes, the teams managed to hit each other's gates three times. First, the hosts leveled the score from the penalty spot and restored the status quo by the sum of two meetings. It seemed that the rivals could not avoid the extra time.

But the fans at Celtic Park were in for an unpleasant surprise. Almost in the first attack after the goal of the Frenchman, the guests came forward again, and after only a couple of minutes they put an end - 3: 1. So Scotland missed a chance to hold two clubs in the 1/8 finals of LE. However, the success of the Rangers is almost guaranteed to allow the country to put up two teams in the Champions League in the 2021/22 season.