EUROPA League
BARCELONA PLAYERS, PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE GET LIFETIME SALARY!
According to UK newspaper, Daily Mail, Barcelona players past, present and future have another reason to thank Lionel Messi – as it has been revealed that he inspired former club president Joan Laporta to award every single winner of a European title at the Catalan club a lifetime salary.
More than 290 players could be benefiting – with the Nou Camp side having amassed five Champions League tiles, four Cup Winners’ Cups and three Fairs Cups.
Juan Carlos Heredia – who was victorious in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1979 alongside Johan Cruyff – is one of the recipients, and explained how the reward was inspired.
‘When Barcelona won the Champions League final in Rome against Manchester United with a goal from Messi, the club president declared that all those who were European champions with Barcelona were going to receive a salary for life. And he fulfilled it,’ Heredia explained to The Tactical Room.
Messi’s goal came in the 70th minute of the 2009 final, sealing the win over Sir Alex Ferguson’s side after an early Samuel Eto’o strike.
Since then, the Catalans have won two more European titles in 2011 and 2015, with names fro Neymar to Marc Bartra added to the list of Barcelona’s European champions.
Former Spanish politician Laporta was Barcelona president from 2003 to 2010, and oversaw the club as they won six trophies in one season under Pep Guardiola in 2009.
The 26-time La Liga victors are leading their Champions League group and on track to put another squad in contention for the lifetime salary.
Becoming champions of Europe again in 2019-20 would be the fifth time in 15 years, and send a response to the three straight titles rivals Real Madrid have managed since the Catalans were last crowned.
CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE
Barcelona’s 12 European titles:
1957-58 Fairs Cup
1959-60 Fairs Cup
1965-66 Fairs Cup
1978-79 Cup Winners Cup
1981-82 Cup Winners Cup
1988-89 Cup Winners Cup
1991-92 Champions League
1996-97 Cup Winners Cup
2005-06 Champions League
2008-09 Champions League
2010-11 Champions League
2014-15 Champions League
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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