EUROPA League
FULL TIME: BAYER LEVERKUSEN 1-2 INTER MILAN- EUROPA LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL ACTION FROM GERMANY
Full-time: Inter Milan 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Inter Milan have booked their plave in the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory against Bayer Leverkusen. Nicolo Barrela and Romelu Lukaku scored as Kai Havertz strike was not enough for the Germans.
VAR Resolution
VAR – penalty disallowed
Bellarabi (Leverkusen) concedes a penalty for a foul on Eriksen (Internazionale).
Inter and Lukaku look to have the opportunity to put the tie to bed, after the Nerazzurri substitute is brought down inside the box.
+6 Added time
BAYER LEVERKUSEN 1-2 INTER MILAN
SO FAR…
Match summary
- Barella fires Inter in front
- Lukaku scores in 9th straight Europa League game
- Havertz pulls one back for Leverkusen
- Winners vs Shakhtar/Basel in semis
Half-time scores
Manchester United 0-0 Copenhagen
Inter Milan 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals in the Inter-Leverkusen clash
Inter Milan are 2-1 up already in the other quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen this evening.
Romelu Lukaku bagged his sides second after Nicolo Barrella’s opener, but their lead has been halved immediately by a goal for Kai Havertz.
GOOAAALL!!!
22mins: Inter Milan 2-0 Bayer Leverkusen
The former Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has doubled Inter’s lead against Leverkusen. Antonio Conte’s side look well on their way to the final four.
GOOOAALL!!!!!
15mins: Inter Milan 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Nicolo Barrela gives Inter Milan the lead! The midfielder fires his shot from outside the box beyond the reach of Lukas Hradecky.
A slow first ten minutes Leverkusen 0-0 Inter.
No shots on target so far between Inter Milan and Bayer Leverkusen. Both teams are seeming to play rather reserved, not wanting to show their hands too quickly
Concurrently like the Manchester United versus Copenhagen, Bayer Leverkussen and Inter Milan are also slugging it out in a quarter final match of the Europa League.
Here is how those two line-up:
Inter Milan XI: Handanovic, Godin, de Vrij, Bastoni, D’Ambrosio, Barella, Brozovic, Gagliardini, Young, Lukaku, Martinez.
Subs: Sanchez, Moses, Sensi, Ranocchia, Valero, Eriksen, Padelli, Esposito, Agoume, Biraghi, Skriniar, Candreva.
Bayer Leverkusen XI: Hradecky, Lars Bender, Sven Bender, Tapsoba, Sinkgraven, Baumgartlinger, Palacios, Havertz, Demirbay, Diaby, Volland
Subs: Tah, Dragovic, Bailey, Amiri, Alario, Wendell, Weiser, Wirtz, Ozcan, Lomb, Bellarabi
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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