EUROPA League
Amad double gives Man United first Europa League win this season
Manchester United’s Amad Diallo scored twice for a 2-0 win over PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday as interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy achieved what the sacked Erik ten Hag failed to do with the club’s first victory in this season’s competition.
United had drawn their three previous Europa League games, but Amad’s looping header back across the goal into the bottom corner from a Bruno Fernandes cross five minutes after the break sent Van Nistelrooy’s side on their way.
The Greek visitors to Old Trafford had chances to take something from the game and United goalkeeper Andre Onana was forced to tip over a shot from Mady Camara in the first half.
PAOK had an excellent opportunity to equalise in the 64th minute but the unmarked Taril Tissoudali could not get enough power in his shot from close range to beat Onana, and Amad made sure of victory 13 minutes from the end.
This time he did it all alone, dispossessing Baba Rahman and holding off the defender’s challenge to reach the edge of the area before unleashing a curling shot which took a slight deflection on its way into the far corner.
The win leaves United in 15th place in the Europa League standings on six points from four games.
“It’s been a long time since we won in Europe. Today we showed why we are one of the best teams. It was important to win today,” Amad told TNT Sports.
“It is important to score every time. This season I have been unlucky so I am happy to score two today. But the most important thing was to win.”
Van Nistelrooy, the former United striker who will shortly make way for new manager Ruben Amorim, replaced Ten Hag 10 days ago and is unbeaten during his three games in charge.
“It was a pretty poor first half if I’m being nice,” Van Nistelrooy said. “The second half way was better. That was clear.
“(Amad) made a difference today because of his goals but he was very sharp. Well done to him, good game. Positionally we weren’t good in the first half. We were much better at that in the second half.”
-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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