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It is tight in Europe and both the UEFA Europa League and the Conference League started their semi-finals on Thursday. Goals were everywhere as Luis Sinisterra’s brace secured Feyenoord a one-goal victory over Olympique Marseille in the Conference League. Jose Mourinho will also be happy with Roma’s draw at Leicester City, despite being out for the entire game.
In the Europa League game, West Ham came painfully close to a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, as Jarrod Bowen’s attempted bicycle kick clattered off the post until late in stoppage time. Angelino also got a late winner for RB Leipzig over Rangers ahead of the Scotland away game next week.
Thursday’s Scoreboard
- Europa League: West Ham 1, Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (FT)
- Europa League: RB Leipzig 1, Rangers 0 (FT)
- Conference League: Leicester City 1, Roma 1 (FT)
- Conference League: Feyenoord 3, Marseille 2 (FT)
Is England’s advance in European competitions at risk?
While Liverpool and Manchester City are alive and kicking in the Champions League, Eintracht Frankfurt stunned West Ham a minute after the game via an excellent header from Angsar Knauff. Daichi Kamada scored a goal and hit the post when he still had a chance, but Frankfurt will be happy with their win. While West Ham had chances, only two of their 15 shots hit the target as the Frankfurt defense bowed, but it didn’t break.
Manager David Moyes has put everything into the competition, as winning Europe is the team’s only chance of a Champions League spot, and now an away win is imperative.
Leicester City will be familiar with how their game went as Roma rolled into town, pulled a Jose Mourinho special and now go home in a good spot in the equalizer. Lorenzo Pellegrini scored an opener in the 15th minute and Roma held out for life. James Maddison had an excellent day, but ended unsuccessfully. Brenden Rodger’s late shift paid off, as substitute Harvey Barnes assisted Ademola Lookman to equalize after an excellent dribble.
Having been a disappointing season for Leicester, all their eggs are in the Conference League basket, but they will likely be underdogs heading to Italy for the second leg.
Mourinho inches closer to his first trophy with Roma
Speaking of having all your eggs in one basket, Jose Mourinho is trying to break through a trophy drought dating back to winning the Europa League in the 2016-17 season with Manchester United. He could end that drought with Roma in the Conference League this season and will feel well placed to do so after returning home with a draw. While Roma didn’t create much against Leicester City, it was because they were trying to frustrate the Foxes. It worked well enough, as although Leicester City won the xG battle 1.71 to .32, things were even on the scoresheet.
Potential danger to Rangers
With Celtic leading six points in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers are another team that must win the Europa League for a place in the Champions League. But their performance against RB Leipzig in the first leg was not good enough. They went for a defensive game plan, giving Leipzig almost 70 percent of the ball possession, and for much of the game it looked like they could get away with it before Angelino gave Leipzig the lead in the 85th minute.
Rangers have only had one shot on target in the entire game and even with an expected rebound at home, their side don’t seem to have the quality to deal with Germany’s big boys.
Defenders of Marseille look away
Although Duje Caleta-Car and William Saliba have had strong seasons, they were unable to stop Feyenoord’s attack speed. The two centre-backs combined for one tackle and zero interceptions, with Caleta-Car making a mistake leading to Feyenoord’s eventual winner.
While the erratic nature of both teams leads to excellent ratings, Marseille’s defense in France will have to be better or this draw is almost over.
You can watch the Europa League and Conference League semifinal second legs next week on Paramount+.
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