EUROPA League
ARSENAL EASE PAST DUNDALK TO STAY PERFECT IN EUROPA LEAGUE
Arsenal maintained their perfect record in this season’s Europa League as goals from Eddie Nketiah, Mohamed Elneny, Joe Willock and Folarin Balogun sealed a 4-2 win at Dundalk in their final Group B match on Thursday (Dec 10).
Much-changed Arsenal, who rested several senior players having already qualified for the last 32, went ahead in the 12th minute when Nketiah chipped the ball over Dundalk goalkeeper Gary Rogers for his fifth goal in all competitions this season.
Elneny doubled the lead with a shot from distance six minutes later for his first Arsenal goal in three years, but the Irish side hit back through Jordan Flores who beat Runar Runarsson following a neat exchange with Michael Duffy.
Bottom-placed Dundalk had the opportunity to equalise but Darragh Leahy’s effort from point-blank range was blocked by Calum Chambers before Willock struck with a low shot after the interval to make it 3-1 to Arsenal.
Substitute Balogun added a fourth with a side-foot finish after being played in by Nicolas Pepe 10 minutes from time before Sean Hoare nodded in a consolation goal for the hosts at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
“The group stage in general is really positive. It’s never easy to win six games in Europe. We’ve been really consistent and performing well,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters.
Arsenal, who scored 20 goals in the six group games, will discover their last-32 opponents in Monday’s draw in Nyon, but Arteta was focusing Sunday’s Premier League game against Burnley.
Arsenal are 15th in England’s top flight with 13 points from 11 games, three places above Burnley who are in the relegation zone.
“We need to start winning football matches immediately. We know that has to start on Sunday,” Spaniard Arteta said.
-Reuters
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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