EUROPA League
MANCHESTER UNITED FOLLOW MANCHESTER CITY IN CRASHING OUT OF EUROPE
Like Manchester City crashing out of Champions League, Manchester United are also out of the Europa League after Sevilla came from behind to reach the final. That is not all, their season is also over after more than a year and 61 games, and so too is English football’s involvement in Europe.
United were the last ones standing and they were still level in their Europa League semi-final with Sevilla at the RheinEnergie Stadion on Sunday night until the 78th minute.
Then Jesus Navas, previously of Manchester City, teased Brandon Williams on the right and sent in a cross. United’s defence were caught flat-footed and substitute Luuk de Jong, the former Newcastle United flop, turned the ball past David de Gea from close range.
It was harsh on United who had taken an early lead from Bruno Fernandes’s penalty only to concede an equaliser midway through the first half to Suso.
They were just about the better team and certainly created the better chances against the Europa League specialists from Seville who have won this competition five times in the last 16 years and are now unbeaten in 20 games.
The Spaniards advance to the final here on Friday against either Inter Milan and or Shakhtar Donetsk and United will have the briefest of rests at the end of a marathon season.
This was a more open affair than their quarter-final win over FC Copenhagen, albeit one that became increasingly bad-tempered both on the pitch and the sidelines where the protestations of both teams echoed around the empty 50,000-seater arena.
Defeat will pain United, as will losing their third semi-final of the season. They will now go three years without a trophy for the first time since 1990.
United threatened again soon after the restart, Boubou saving from Martial and Fernando blocking Rashford’s follow-up effort.
Five-time winners Sevilla will play Inter Milan or Shakhtar Donetsk in Friday’s final.
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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