EUROPA League
Osimhen shines with brace Ndidi sees red in Leicester/Napoli thrilling 2-2 draw
Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen was the hero of the night as his brace rescued Napoli from the jaw of defeat at the King Power Stadium where they secure valuable 2-2 draw against former Premiership Champions, Leicester City.
The attacking duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Paston Daka started well but Leicester gave up a two-goal lead as a Victor Osimhen double secured a well-earned draw for Napoli in yesterday’s Europa League opener.
Leicester began brightly, and after Harvey Barnes came close to netting an early goal, Ayoze Perez did manage to find the back of the net, thundering home from a cross inside the first ten minutes.
That high tempo continued for the remainder of the first half. Both sides were pressing high and forcing mistakes, with Napoli eventually taking control and having the best chances of the half as Kasper Schmeichel had to pull out some excellent saves to deny Piotr Zielinski and Hirving Lozano.
Napoli maintained the edge after the break, but Leicester almost snatched a second against the run of play after VAR called Patson Daka’s strike back for one of those armpit offsides.
That second goal did come a few minutes later as Harvey Barnes finished off an excellent counter-attack to give Leicester a two-goal lead with 25 minutes to go.
Napoli got themselves back in it just a few minutes later, pulling off an absurd team move which ended in a glorious chip from Osimhen, and the Nigerian popped up with a header three minutes from time to earn Napoli a deserved point.
To rub salt in the wounds, Leicester ended the game with ten men as the otherwise-excellent Wilfred Ndidi was shown his second yellow card in stoppage time.
Elsewhere, the duo of Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo are in the starting eleven for Rangers FC but coach Steven Gerrard’s 50th European match as a manager ended in defeat as the team lost at home to Lyon.
Having reached the last 16 in each of the previous two Europa League campaigns, Rangers were looking to make home advantage count against what look set to be their toughest rivals in Group A.
But Lyon – whose previous European match was a Champions League semi-final defeat to Bayern Munich in 2020 – had too much quality yesterday.
Karl Toko Ekambi’s 23rd-minute stunner put Lyon ahead, with James Tavernier’s own goal condemning Rangers to their first ever Europa League group stage defeat at Ibrox.
Connor Goldson could easily have been dismissed for a reckless challenge on Toko Ekambi in the 13th minute as Lyon settled quicker, though the visiting forward showed no signs of being hindered with an exceptional opener.
Having been given time to approach the area, Toko Ekambi fooled John Lundstram with some fine footwork before curling a sublime finish across Allan McGregor and into the bottom-right corner.
Joe Aribo stinging the palms of Anthony Lopes sparked the home crowd into life, and Lundstram almost atoned for his part in Lyon’s opener with a low strike that flashed inches wide.
Lopes had to be at his best to keep Ryan Kent, though Islam Slimani might have put Lyon 2-0 up on the stroke of half-time had he connected with Malo Gusto’s cross.
Yet Lyon struck again early in the second half. Rangers were cut open by Lucas Paqueta’s pass and though Slimani’s effort was blocked, the rebound bounced in off the unfortunate Tavernier.
Tavernier was inches away from dragging Rangers back into it with a superb free-kick, only for the post to come to Lyon’s rescue as Gerrard’s milestone match in Europe proved a disappointing one
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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