EUROPA League
ARSENAL DENIED EUROPA LEAGUE WIN BY LATE SLAVIA GOAL
Slavia Prague took charge of their Europa League quarter-final against wasteful Arsenal on Thursday (April 8), stealing an away goal deep into stoppage time to rescue a 1-1 draw at the Emirates.
Nicolas Pepe had broken the deadlock for Arsenal in the 86th minute after a night of glaring misses in the first leg of the last-eight tie.
But Tomas Holes headed in a last-gasp equaliser to leave the contest finely poised.
Mikel Arteta’s team are realistically out of the running to finish in the top four of the Premier League, meaning they must win the second-tier European competition to reach next season’s Champions League.
Arsenal came into the match after a chastening 3-0 defeat against Liverpool last weekend.
Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe were passed fit to start but captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was dropped to the bench.
Saka, who missed the Liverpool defeat, was a regular threat down the Arsenal right but his delivery into the box was poor.
The England international missed a golden chance to break the deadlock when he steered wide with only goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar to beat and Rob Holding forced a fine save with a header.
The visitors’ only real chance of the opening period came when Lukas Provod fired just over following a Slavia raid down the right.
Arsenal came agonisingly close to taking the lead early in the second half when Willian – still seeking his first goal for the club – struck the outside of the post from a free-kick.
Saka then burst forward down the right but his cross sailed harmlessly over the heads of his team-mates after a finely worked move.
The home side then had a scare but Slavia’s Jan Boril forced a save from keeper Bernd Leno.
Just after the hour mark Arsenal should have been ahead when forward Alexandre Lacazette stole the ball from the last defender near the half-way and charged forward with only the goalkeeper to beat.
The France international opened up his body and looked certain to score but his shot hit the crossbar.
Thomas Partey then fired wide for Arsenal moments before substitute Petr Sevcik missed a glorious chance to grab an away goal.
Arteta threw on Aubameyang, Pepe and Mohamed Elneny in the 78th minute and it almost reaped immediate dividends but Aubameyang steered wide.
Suddenly Arsenal upped the tempo and substitute Gabriel Martinelli forced a fine save from Kolar.
They finally got the breakthrough they deserved when Aubameyang fed the ball to Pepe, who raced into the box and dinked the ball over the goalkeeper.
Arsenal looked set to travel to the away leg with the advantage but the Czechs had other ideas.
-AFP
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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