Tears of Torres, rescue of Tedesco and another sensation from Sheriff: how the playoffs of the Europa League started

Lost chances for Barcelona

The confrontation between Barcelona and Napoli is clear evidence of how the reform has benefited the Europa League.

Previously, matches of this level could only be seen in the Champions League.

Actually, the last time the rivals met there was just two years ago.

Now their paths crossed in LE.

Moreover, if the Catalans flew out of the main European Cup, then the Neapolitans in the second most important did not manage to break directly into the 1/8 finals, skipping ahead in the Spartak group.

On the eve of the meeting, the mentor of the Italian team, Luciano Spalletti, noted that he did not see anything wrong with the fact that the wards would periodically have to cuddle up to their gates.

But the specialist hardly thought that they would completely give up the initiative to the opponent and inflict only four blows.

One of them miraculously turned out to be effective.

In the middle of the first half, the guests organized a rare counterattack, and Piotr Zelinski opened the scoring.

The blue garnets managed to win back only from a penalty kick, appointed after an hour of the meeting for the game of Juan Jesus by hand.

Ferran Torres from the "point" left no chance for Alex Meret.

But from the game, the implementation of the striker left much to be desired.

He missed several killer moments at once, a couple of which were in the end and failed to bring victory to his team.

After another miss by the ward, even the usually calm Javi grabbed his head in anger.

The football player himself also did not hold back his emotions and, as soon as the final whistle sounded, he sank onto the lawn and cried.

Not only partners began to console him, but also some Neapolitan players, who should be grateful to the Spaniard for keeping the chances of reaching the next round.

Sensational defeat of Borussia

In most matches, the teams that flew out of the Champions League were considered favorites, but not all were able to justify this status.

First of all, this concerns Borussia, which unexpectedly lost at home to the Rangers - 2:4.

The hosts, like Barcelona, ​​had more possession and more shots on goal, but in the absence of the injured Erling Haaland, they were unable to convert quantity into quality.

But the guests took advantage of all the chances presented.

Shortly before half-time, Dan-Axel Zagadu played a hand in his own box, and James Tavernier converted the penalty.

And just a few minutes later, Alfredo Morelos scored after a corner.

In the second half, the wards of Marco Rose were forced to go forward in full force, and the Scottish team regularly received excellent opportunities for counterattacks.

Two of them were converted into goals.

First, John Landstrom scored, and then the same Zagadu, who can be called the anti-hero of the game, corrected the projectile on target after Morelos hit.

However, the intrigue in the confrontation is still preserved thanks to the balls of Jude Bellingham and Rafael Guerreiro.

The Portuguese did mark the most beautiful shot from outside the penalty area in the end and gave hope to partners.

The Rangers win was also bad news for home fans as it allowed Scotland to overtake Russia in the UEFA odds table for ninth place.

Unexpected saviors of Porto and Atalanta

Immediately for the two teams that started the performance this season in the main European Cup, the first matches of the LE ended like a blueprint.

We are talking about Porto and Atalanta.

Both did not start their home games very well and allowed Lazio and Olympiacos to open an account respectively.

As a result, both won strong-willed victories thanks to doubles of performers, from whom they did not expect high performance.

For example, as part of the Portuguese team, Antonio Martinez clearly showed himself.

In the current season, the striker hit the base a few times, was content with substitutions and practically did not score.

However, on Thursday, Sergio Conceição decided to keep the leaders, and the reserve striker got a chance and took advantage of it.

At the end of the first half, he restored the status quo, and immediately after the break he brought the hosts ahead.

The Romans were defeated and will try to turn the tide of the unsuccessful confrontation at home.

According to a similar scenario, the meeting in Bergamo developed, where Atalanta, already in the 16th minute, allowed Tikinho to score.

However, there was no sensation.

Saved wards Gian Piero Gasperini central defender Berat Jimsiti.

The Albanian scores extremely rarely and last hit someone else's goal at the club level more than a year ago.

And more than once in a game, he hadn’t been different before.

But on Thursday came the finest hour of an experienced footballer.

In a difficult situation, he led his partners behind him and managed to deliver two accurate blows in just three minutes.

On both occasions, Jimsity played the ball well during corner plays.

Russian midfielder Alexei Miranchuk did not fully recover from the injury and did not get into the application again.

New accomplishment of Sheriff

But Sheriff continues to rewrite the history of Moldovan football.

In the fall, he made his way to the Champions League group and, having adequately performed there and took third place, he continued his performance in the LE.

The debut meeting in the spring stage of European competitions ended with a home victory over Braga - 2: 0.

At the same time, Tiraspol lost a number of leaders in winter, including the entire defense line, which a few months ago held back the attacks of Inter, Real and Shakhtar: Danilo Arboleda Hurtado, Gustavo Dulanto, Cristiano and Fernando Costanza, who moved to " Wings of Soviets".

But this did not stop at home to stop one of the strongest teams in Portugal and keep their gates shut.

In a number of moments, the hosts were rescued by the main goalkeeper Georgios Atanasiadis, who remained in the composition, and somewhere luck turned out to be on their side.

But the team of Yuri Vernidub treated their moments very carefully.

His wards, inflicting only two shots on target, scored twice.

Shortly before the break, they earned a penalty, which was converted by Sebastian Till.

Goalkeeper Lima Matheus guessed the direction of the flight of the projectile, but failed to reach him.

And at the end of the meeting, Adam Traore put the end.

The opponent actually gave the attacker the ball, and he had to calmly realize a one-on-one exit.

Sheriff won in a corporate style and came close to being among the 16 strongest leagues.

The hard rescue of Leipzig

Spartak fans have recently been following Leipzig with particular interest.

The fact is that in December the team was headed by the ex-coach of the red and white Domenico Tedesco.

So far, under his leadership, she has shown good results, for example, in 2022 she suffered only one defeat, and then from Bayern.

But the start in European competition turned out to be difficult.

The German team in the home match with Real Sociedad had an overwhelming advantage and struck two dozen shots against three from the opponent, but managed to concede twice and almost lost.

Moreover, the owners came up with difficulties for themselves.

To begin with, in the eighth minute, no one prevented Robin Le Norman from aiming to break into the far corner after filing from the left flank.

And after an hour, even with an equal score, Yoshko Guardiol for some reason played with his hand in his own penalty area on a corner.

Cuneyt Chakyr, after watching the replay, pointed to the "dot", and Mikel Oyarzabal did not miss his chance.

Fortunately for the hosts, shortly before the final whistle, a penalty kick was already awarded to Real Sociedad.

Frank foul Joseba Saldua left him no choice.

Emil Forsberg also converted a penalty, setting the final score on the scoreboard - 2:2.