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)
Four-times Europa League winner Unai Emery booked an astonishing sixth final in the competition as a manager on Thursday when his Aston Villa team swept aside Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their all-English semi-final.
The 54-year-old Spaniard has won three times with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and once with Villarreal (2021) – either side of a defeat with Arsenal (2019) – deservedly earning him the epithet “Mr Europa League” from some fans and media.
Now he goes to the 2026 final seeking a fifth title, this time with Aston Villa against Bundesliga side Freiburg.
“His track record speaks for itself,” said Villa striker Ollie Watkins, heaping praise on his boss as the man to guarantee Europa League success. “We need to go and win it now.”
Emery was delighted with how his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to Forest in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final to score four times at home and win 4-1 on aggregate.
“Now we have to look to the final,” he said, hoping that Villa will do “something fantastic” for their fans.
Though thrilled at Thursday’s win, Emery left the pitch quickly after the final whistle, pumping his fist a few times at the crowd before letting his players enjoy the moment with fans
He and his Villa side will be favourites at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, but Emery was taking nothing for granted. “Of course German teams are so difficult, their coaches, their players are so good,” he added of the upcoming opponents.
-Reuters
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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
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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
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