EUROPA League
MARTIAL GRABS KEY EUROPA LEAGUE GOAL FOR MAN UNITED IN BRUGGE
Anthony Martial struck a crucial away goal as Manchester United ground out a 1-1 draw against Club Brugge in Belgium on Thursday (Feb 20) in the first leg of their Europa League last 32 tie.
Nigerian forward Emmanuel Dennis lobbed a stranded Sergio Romero from 30 yards to give Belgian league leaders Brugge the lead on 15 minutes at a chilly, rainswept Jan Breydelstadion.
Martial though hauled United level before half-time with an excellent run and finish after pouncing on a defensive lapse from Brandon Mechele.
“It was a difficult game against a well-organised team, under difficult conditions. I don’t think it was one of the best games anyone has seen,” said United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
“It was a bit sloppy in terms of concentration but conditions with the pitch and ball makes it hard.
“We got an away goal, we got a draw and we’re at home next week. Hopefully we can finish the job.”
Solskjaer made six changes to the side that beat Chelsea on Monday, with Romero handed another start in Europe while Victor Lindelof returned from illness to form a three-man defence alongside Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw. New signing Odion Ighalo again began on the bench.
Brugge coach Philippe Clement, once of Coventry City, handed a European debut to 19-year-old Maxim De Cuyper with captain Ruud Vormer only fit enough to start among the substitutes.
De Cuyper nearly popped up with a goal inside three minutes when Dennis escaped Maguire and skipped towards Romero, his attempt to pull back resulting in Nemanja Matic hooking against the teenager and the ball ricocheting fortuitously over the bar.
Andreas Pereira, United’s Belgium-born Brazilian midfielder, saw a low 20-yard drive tipped behind by Simon Mignolet, with the Brugge goalkeeper setting Dennis up for the opener moments later.
A long kick forward caught United short in defence and Dennis, who scored twice against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in October, outmuscled Brandon Williams before lofting over Romero with the Argentine well off his line.
An increasingly ragged United were fortunate not to fall further behind when Mats Rits scuffed wide before Romero positioned himself expertly to keep out Dennis from a tough angle.
MARTIAL TAKES ADVANTAGE
Brugge then paid a heavy price when Mechele allowed a bouncing ball to run beyond him, an alert Martial seizing on the opening to race clear and steer calmly beyond Mignolet.
Martial almost bagged a quickfire second as he smacked the post just before the interval, Mignolet extending a vital hand to divert the Frenchman’s curling strike just outside the penalty area.
Brugge will be without Eder Balanta for the return leg at Old Trafford next week after he was booked for a foul on Juan Mata, and the Colombian was replaced by Vormer early in the second half.
Jesse Lingard stabbed wide while lunging to reach a teasing ball from Diogo Dalot before Dennis was again denied by Romero from a tricky position.
Odilon Kossounou squandered a superb chance to put Brugge back on top when he scuffed wide following terrific work on the right from Dennis and a clever dummy from Siebe Schrijvers.
Bruno Fernandes injected fresh life into United as he was introduced for the final 10 minutes, and although the 2017 champions were unable to land a knockout blow they will fancy their chances of finishing off the tie on home soil.
Celtic keeper Fraser Forster saved a late Jens Stage penalty as the Scottish champions drew 1-1 away to FC Copenhagen after Odsonne Edouard’s opener was cancelled by an effort from Senegalese striker Dame N’Doye.
La Liga surprise package Getafe defeated last season’s Champions League semi-finalists Ajax 2-0 in Spain with Brazilian duo Deyverson and Kenedy on target.
Christian Eriksen bagged his first Inter Milan goal in a 2-0 win away to Ludogorets of Bulgaria. Romelu Lukaku added a late second from the spot.
Record five-time winners Sevilla needed an 82nd-minute equaliser from January arrival Youssef En-Nesyri to salvage a 1-1 draw away to Romanians Cluj.
–AFP
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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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
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