EUROPA League
UEFA EMBARRASSED AS FORMER BAYERN ACE, HELMER, TAGGED EUROPA LEAGUE ‘CUP OF LOSERS’
UEFA are left embarrassed after former Bayern Munich defender Thomas Helmer labelled the Europa League the ‘Cup of Losers’ during the draw for the quarter- and semi-finals.
On Friday morning, UEFA’s Pedro Pinto was in charge of navigating the ceremonies for the Champions League and Europa League, which were run with social distancing measures.
Helmer was one of a select few present at UEFA’s HQ in Nyon and after the Champions League draw was littered with technical problems, it was a comment heard loud and clear from Helmer that had UEFA blushing afterwards.
‘Do you know what he calls it, no? Helmer asked Pinto, pointing to his UEFA colleague Giorgio Marchetti. ‘The cup of losers…’
Social distancing rules meant club delegates, who are usually in the room at UEFA’s Nyon HQ, were following on a video stream and yet, despite a wealth of resources, the video interviews were hamstrung by sound problems – particularly in Madrid.
The draws are typically drawn out with montages of goals scored so far, conversations with former players and former winners, and a run-through of the technicalities behind the draw to name three things.
But as Pinto continued building up to the main event, he found himself battling against sound problems that made a number of interviews unwatchable.
In trying to speak to Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke, Pinto addressed him in Spanish but got no sound in return, despite the stream showing Koke talking into his microphone in the Spanish capital.
The decision was made not to let that run for too long and so Pinto switched across the city to speak to former Real Madrid striker Emilio Butragueno.
Again, the video worked fine but the sound was once again nowhere to be found apart from the occasional jolt of noise.
Back-to-back interviews had to be axed and apologies were made for the ‘technical difficulties’ that dominated the pre-draw ceremony.
With so many eyes tuned into the draw, desperate to see how the route to the final would look, the technical problems did not go unnoticed.
One irate user wrote on Twitter: ‘The Champions League draw has been and absolute farce.
‘They’re dragging it out massively and none of the audio is working.
‘Just get on with the draw.’
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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