The bad luck of Zenit, the power of Barcelona and the drama of Sheriff: what do you remember the return matches of the 1/16 finals of the Europa League

Canceled goal by Chistyakov

The current European Cup season has turned into a season of worthy defeats for Zenit.

In the Champions League, the Petersburgers looked good in three of the four confrontations with Chelsea and Juventus, but scored only one point.

In the Europa League, they gave battle to the currently third Spanish team Betis, but the result was again disappointing - relegation.

At the same time, there can be no questions to the wards of Sergei Semak.

After a home defeat with a minimal score difference (2:3) in Sevilla, they did everything in their power.

The coach also tried to find a way out and made four substitutions at once compared to the meeting a week ago.

Most of all, the appearance at the last frontier of 19-year-old Daniil Odoevsky, who had only once played for the base, and not Mikhail Kerzhakov, surprised me the most.

There was no place at the start and another culprit of the defeat in the first game, Yaroslav Rakytsky.

As a result, only one specialized performer was found in the trio of central defenders - Dmitry Chistyakov.

He was joined by defensive midfielder Wilmar Barrrios and left back Douglas dos Santos.

As Semak explained after the final whistle, he chose the most attacking roster with the installation to control the ball.

In the first half, the team did it.

That's just the possession did not lead to the emergence of moments.

For 45 minutes, the teams did not strike a single shot at each other's goal.

Artyom Dzyuba had a couple of dangerous approaches, but the defenders managed to cover his shots.

The hosts were quite satisfied with such football.

And after the break, they almost opened an account.

Twice the drawing of the corners led to the ball hitting the post.

Zenit scored in the 47th minute, but Yuuri Alberto's goal was rightly canceled due to offside by Alexei Sutormin.

For a long time, this moment remained the only one, but closer to the final whistle, the headquarters began to carry out castling.

At first, the tired Dziuba was replaced by another newcomer Ivan Sergeev.

Then Alexander Erokhin and Andrey Mostovoy appeared on the field.

Petersburgers switched to bulk.

And in the 90th minute, this tactic worked.

After serving a fresh Mostovoy, Chistyakov, who was left without guardianship, sent the ball into the near corner with his head.

Alas, the joy of the Zenith players was short-lived.

Khalil Meler's assistants suggested that he watch a replay, and after studying the episode, the referee canceled the goal.

It turned out that the rules in someone else's penalty area were violated by Erokhin, who stepped on his opponent's foot.

In stoppage time by the referee, Alexander had the opportunity to correct himself, but hit his head a little higher at point-blank range.

Amazing work Karasev

Also, the Russians were represented in the confrontation between Napoli and Barcelona.

The central match of the 1/16 finals was served by a team of judges headed by Sergey Karasev.

She completely coped with her work and did not make gross mistakes.

The only thing is that in the middle of the first half, the referee did not immediately point out the "point" for the foul of Marc-Andre ter Stegen in his own penalty area, but after prompting colleagues appointed a penalty.

This moment is a rare negative for the Catalans in the reporting meeting.

In general, they played an almost perfect game.

Already in the eighth minute, the guests organized an exemplary counterattack after drawing someone else's corner, which was completed by Jordi Alba.

No less worth noting is the breakthrough of Adam Traore, who returned from the lease.

Frenkie de Jong, who took advantage of Ferran Torres' elegant heel drop, delivered a superb shot from outside the box.

Lorenzo Insigne seemed to have revived the intrigue from the penalty spot, but at the end of the first half, Gerard Piqué, who joined the attack, killed her again.

And in the second half, the fourth goal was built by two newcomers of blue garnet.

Traore completed a cross from the flank, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his fourth goal in touch in the last five days.

The goal of Matteo Politano, who in the end set the final score (4:2), hardly pleased the Neapolitans much.

Tavernier's unexpected double

After the first stage of the playoffs of the LE, three teams that flew out of the Champions League completed their performance at once.

But the biggest surprise was the failure of Borussia.

Dortmund were considered clear favorites paired with the Rangers, but in the absence of the injured Erling Haaland, they could not oppose anything to the opponent.

After losing the first leg at home by two goals, Marco Rosa's men needed a miracle to get through, and they failed.

The grossest mistakes in defense prevented.

On the one hand, the guests were forced to go forward and expose the rear.

On the other hand, such blots are unacceptable at this level.

For example, in the first half, with an equal score, Julian Brandt hit on the leg of an opponent who was moving away from the penalty area.

The penalty was confidently converted by captain James Tavernier.

The Scottish team did not act better in defense and even before the break they managed to concede twice from Jude Bellingham and Donyell Malen.

The yellow-blacks have a real opportunity to make a comeback.

But after an hour of confrontation, another rough blot crossed out all their efforts.

After a cross from the flank, the defender waved his foot past the ball, and Tavernier, who rarely scores, closed the far post - 2:2.

Moreover, soon the hosts, having made a selection in the center of the field, ran away together to someone else's goal, but the referee, after watching the replay, recorded a foul.

However, this did not stop the Rangers from sensationally knocking Borussia out of the fight, which failed the European Cup season.

Two powerful shots of Malinovsky

But Atalanta did not leave a chance to Olympiacos.

If in the first meeting the Bergamasks pulled out a strong-willed victory at home with great difficulty, then in the second on the road they sent three unanswered goals into the gates of Tomasz Vaclik.

It all started with a goal at the end of the first half, who joined the attack and pushed through defender Joakim Mehle.

In the second half, Ruslan Malinovsky reminded himself.

Some four minutes was enough for the Ukrainian in order to issue a double.

First, he, using a pass from Tön Kopmeiners, struck a touch into the far nine.

And then with a magnificent long-range blow he hit the near one.

By the way, since 2019, the midfielder has scored 16 shots from outside the box, if we take into account the players playing in the top 5 leagues of the Old World, and is second only to Lionel Messi (21) in this indicator.

As for Alexey Miranchuk, he again did not get into the application.

The Russian continues to recover from an injury received back in January.

According to media reports, he should return to the squad in March.

Incredible transfer by Taremi

For another Italian team, Lazio, the day was not so successful.

She opened the scoring in the second match with Porto in a row, but again failed to take advantage of the advantage gained.

If Mattia Zacagni scored in Portugal, then Ciro Immobile scored in Italy.

The striker was allowed to run away three times on his debut, and on the third attempt he hit the target and scored the eighth goal in nine meetings in 2022.

However, the wards of Sergio Conceisau again showed character, and the main character in their composition was Mehdi Taremi, who returned to the base.

After half an hour of confrontation, he earned a penalty and converted it himself.

Moreover, the fall of the Iranian turned out to be so picturesque that the referee Deniz Aytekin showed him a “yellow card” for simulation, but, having studied the episode, pointed to the “point”.

And in the 68th minute, the striker performed an amazing scoop pass into someone else's penalty area on the move to Andres Uribe.

In turn, the Colombian with the first touch processed the projectile with his chest, and with the second, not allowing him to fall on the lawn, he just shot into the near corner.

Now, in order to at least translate the match into extra time, the hosts needed to score twice, and they went ahead with the whole team.

However, Diogo Meireles acted beyond praise, making several important saves.

And the defenders selflessly threw themselves under the shots of their opponents.

At the 94th minute, Danilo Cataldi still managed to restore the balance on the scoreboard, but there was too little time left before the final whistle.

Four saves by Athanasiadis and Matheus in the penalty shootout

The fairy tale "Sheriff" has also come to an end.

The champion of Moldova started in the first qualifying round of the Champions League and finished in the 1/16 finals of the Champions League.

Moreover, after the home game with Braga, it seemed that he was able to go further, because the wards of Yuri Vernidub scored two unanswered goals against the opponent.

Alas, at the "Municipal di Braga" the Portuguese team quickly leveled the handicap.

Already in the 17th minute, Yuri Medeiros opened the scoring, and shortly before the break he assisted Ricardo Orte.

To the credit of the guests, in the second half they got together and did not concede again.

On the contrary, they themselves missed several chances in counterattacks.

And in stoppage time, Georgios Atanasiadis rescued partners a couple of times.

As a result, the fate of the confrontation was decided in a penalty shoot-out, which turned out to be truly dramatic.

Sheriff's players simply couldn't cope with their nerves and gave the opponent a ticket to the next round.

Artless shots by Gustavo Dulanto and Stepan Radelic were parried by Lima Matheus, and Bruno sent the ball over the goal.

However, Athanasiadis revived the intrigue on his own.

The Greek parried two shots from the spot and gave the team hope.

But Francisco Moura did not flinch at the decisive moment, breaking right through the center, and brought Braga to the 1/8 finals.