EUROPA League
BATTLE OF RECOVERING GIANTS AS MAN UNITED FACE AC MILAN IN EUROPA LEAGUE
Manchester United and AC Milan meet in the Europa League last 16 on Thursday in a battle of European royalty, with both clubs showing signs of revival.
With 10 Champions League titles between them, United and Milan were once feared across Europe for their swashbuckling play and financial muscle.
But both clubs have lost their lustre in recent years, making their first meeting since 2010 an intriguing affair.
In a sign of the drop in standards at Old Trafford and the San Siro, the 11th encounter between two of the world’s most historic teams will be their first outside the Champions League knockout stages.
United, 20-time English champions, have not won the Premier League since Alex Ferguson’s last season in charge in 2013.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are unlikely to end that drought this season as they trail leaders Manchester City by 11 points with 10 games left.
Sunday’s impressive 2-0 win at City was a sign United are at least heading in the right direction at last after losing their way under several of Ferguson’s successors.
Calling for United to build on that success, Solskjaer praised his side’s energy levels.
“We are going to do everything we can to keep the performance levels up every day,” he said.
“I feel we are a better team to 12, 16, 18 months ago. We have improved massively. We are more robust, resilient and there is more personality in the team. That is what I like.”
The most recent of Milan’s 18 Serie A titles came in 2011, with a sixth-place finish last term earning a return to Europe after a one-season absence.
That was a small step in the right direction for Milan, who have not played in the Champions League since 2014.
– Ibrahimovic return? –
Milan’s gradual improvement under boss Stefano Pioli has taken them to second in Serie A this term.
The seven-time European champions are six points behind leaders Inter Milan — a 3-0 defeat against their city rivals in February was a significant blow to their title aspirations.
Trying to restore their domestic dominance is the first goal for United and Milan on a long journey they hope will eventually lead them back to the Champions League summit as well.
Winning the Europa League would be another welcome sign of better days to come.
Milan have never reached the final of the competition but their striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a United player when the English giants won the Europa League in 2017.
Ibrahimovic has missed Milan’s past two games due to a muscle injury, but Pioli hopes the 39-year-old Swede will be fit for an Old Trafford return.
“He is better… he will have another examination to see how his recovery is going, we hope he can recover by Thursday,” Pioli said.
United will face another familiar face in full-back Diogo Dalot, who is on loan at Milan, with UEFA rules allowing players to face their parent clubs.
Old Trafford holds happy memories for Milan, who beat Juventus there in the 2003 Champions League final, but their record in England against English hosts shows just one win in 17 matches.
While United’s Milan showdown is the tie of the round, there are several teams in action elsewhere who also harbour genuine hopes of winning the tournament.
Tottenham, in a rich vein of form since Gareth Bale’s revival, host Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb, while Roma meet Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk.
Arsenal face Olympiakos at the same venue where they came from behind to beat Benfica in the previous round — the last-32 second-leg was staged in Greece due to coronavirus concerns.
Fresh from winning the Scottish title for the first time since 2011, Steven Gerrard’s Rangers travel to Slavia Prague and four-time European champions Ajax host Switzerland’s Young Boys
-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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