EUROPA League
Europa Cup: The Final Onslaught as United, Ajax Clash
After the Manchester terror attack of Monday night that put thick cloud over the UEFA Europa League Cup final, the stage is finally set for an epic clash of Manchester United and Ajax Amsterdam.
It is the 46th final match in the competition and Stockholm in Sweden is the stage as both sides look forward to a direct entry into the group stage of the next edition of the more glamorous UEFA Champions League.
If observations by Sports Village Square are anything to go by, the favourites appear to be Manchester United who have remained unbeaten in their last 10 European games. The scorecard looks very appealing – seven victories and three drawn games.
But sometimes, age play a role in determining contests. Ajax Amsterdam playing their first European Cup final match since the epic performance of the mid 1990s when the Nigerian duo of Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu aided their success will be featuring a largely youthful side.
Sports Village Square gathered from UEFA that the average age of Ajax players is 22. Lasse Schöne who is likely to be fielded ahead of Donny van de Beek in the midfield will be the only over 25 in the Ajax side.
He is picked because of his experience and skill in taking set pieces. Both Ajax and Manchester United have players barred from the final match. For Ajax, Nick Viergever is suspended for the final.
Perhaps as a balancing act, Manchester United will also be without their Ivoirian defender, Eric Bertrand Bailly who is also suspended.
Also both have injury issues to contend with, but Manchester United is worse hit. For Ajax Amsterdam, Daley Sinkgraven has lost his race to be fit after six weeks out with a knee problem.
With Nick Viergever suspended, Jairo Riedewald is the most likely choice to fill the vacant left-back berth, though there’s an option to switch Joël Veltmann there, with Kenny Tete coming in on the right.
For the Manchester United, Zlatan Ibrahimović will have to watch from the stands on account of injury. José Mourinho gave debuts to five youngsters on Sunday but expect a far more recognisable line-up on Wednesday.
Sergio Romero will continue in goal – he has stood in for David de Gea for much of United’s European campaign – with Phil Jones favourite to deputise for Eric Bailly at centre-back. Marcus Rashford fills the sizeable void left by Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Likely XI: Onana; Veltman, De Ligt, Sánchez, Riedewald; Klaassen, Schöne, Ziyech; Traoré, Dolberg, Younes.
Out: Viergever (suspended), Sinkgraven (knee/fitness)
Likely XI: Romero; Valencia, Jones, Blind, Darmian; Fellaini, Herrera, Pogba; Lingard, Rashford, Mkhitaryan.
Out: Bailly (suspended), Shaw (ankle), Ibrahimović (knee), Rojo (knee), Young (hamstring)
List of teams which have qualified for the next round of the Europa League after the league phase concluded on Thursday, ranked by table position:
Directly to the round of 16:
1. Olympique Lyonnais (France)
2. Aston Villa (England)
3. Midtjylland (Denmark)
4. Real Betis (Spain)
5. Porto (Portugal)
6. Braga (Portugal)
7. Freiburg (Germany)
8. AS Roma (Italy)
Knockout phase play-off places (seeded)
9. Genk (Belgium)
10. Bologna (Italy)
11. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
12. Ferencvaros (Hungary)
13. Nottingham Forest (England)
14. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)
15. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
16. Celta Vigo (Spain)
Knockout phase play-off places (unseeded)
17. PAOK (Greece)
18. Lille (France)
19. Fenerbahce (Turkey)
20. Panathinaikos (Greece)
21. Celtic (Scotland)
22. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
23. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
24. SK Brann (Norway)
-Reuters
UEFA Europa League – Aston Villa v RB Salzburg – Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain – January 29, 2026 Aston
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Crystal Palace’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to drop them from the Europa League to the third-tier Conference League was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Olympique Lyonnais to play in the Europa League as, at the time of assessment on March 1, the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon while their chairman, John Textor, owned a controlling stake in Palace.
Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League.
“After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date,” the CAS said in a statement.
“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”
Palace did not respond to a request for comment. Club chairman Steve Parish told reporters on Sunday that if Palace lost the appeal, they would “have to look if there’s any steps after that.”
The club, who qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, appealed against UEFA’s decision last month.
The appeal came days before New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson completed the purchase of Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Palace.
Textor has also resigned from Lyon’s board of directors with Michele Kang appointed chairwoman and president.
As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place because they had finished higher in their respective league. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 while Palace were 12th in the Premier League.
“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.
Palace, who won the Community Shield on Sunday , beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- WAFCON6 days ago
BREAKING: CAF Postpones WAFCON 2026
- DIPLOMACY2 days ago
Trump calls on Australia to give asylum to Iranian women’s soccer players
- World Cup2 days ago
Iraq coach calls for delay to World Cup playoff amid travel shutdown
- DIPLOMACY2 days ago
Morocco Backs Gulf Security, Condemns Iranian Attacks Against Brotherly Arab States
- OBITUARY2 days ago
Breaking! Former Super Eagles Coach Adegboye Onigbinde Dies Four Days After Clocking 88
- OBITUARY1 day ago
Nigeria’s Sports Community Mourns Adegboye Onigbinde, A Life Devoted to Football
- OBITUARY1 week ago
Nigerian Sports Journalism Mourns Oyeniyi Oyeleke and Tonex Chukwu
- World Cup2 days ago
1990 World Cup Winner Riedle Backs Spain, France, Brazil for 2026 Glory