EUROPA League
ODION IGHALO LEADS MAN UNITED GOAL RIOT
Odion Ighalo has gone from strength to strength since his move to Manchester United was complicated by the coronavirus outbreak in January, so how appropriate that he was the man to light up this Europa League tie on a silent, soulless night in Linz.
In a match played behind closed doors in the battle to contain the global pandemic, Ighalo put United on course for a comprehensive win with the opening goal – and what a goal it was.
The Nigerian didn’t have many options when Bruno Fernandes burst forward in the 28th minute and flicked the ball to him on the edge of the box.
Daniel James doubled the lead in the 58th when he side-stepped his marker and buried a crisp low shot into the bottom corner, leaving keeper Alexander Schlager rooted to the spot.
Juan Mata made it 3-0 with a clinical finish from 10 metres after 82 minutes before late substitutes Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira put the icing on the cake in stoppage time.
Swiss side FC Basel stunned Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 away, also behind closed doors, as Samuele Campo curled in a 27th minute free kick before substitute Kevin Bua made it 2-0 in the 73rd and then set up Fabian Frei to drill home the third.
An 88th-minute penalty from Bosnia forward Edin Visca gave Istanbul Basaksehir a 1-0 home win over FC Copenhagen in the solitary early fixture which fans were allowed to attend.
Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba missed a pair of gilt-edged chances for the Turkish side before Visca, who hit the post early on, drilled home his spot kick.
The United fixture was one of four in Europe’s second-tier club competition ordered to be played with no fans present due to the coronavirus outbreak and two matches were postponed.
Spanish side Getafe refused to travel to Italy and face Inter Milan while AS Roma said they could not travel to Spain to play Sevilla because of flight restrictions.
Later on Thursday, Olympiakos Piraeus host Wolverhampton Wanderers behind closed doors, with the fixture allowed to go ahead despite the Greek club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis saying he had contracted the coronavirus.
Vfl Wolfsburg will entertain Shakhtar Donetsk in an empty stadium, while Rangers are at home to Bayer Leverkusen in the day’s only other match with fans permitted to attend.
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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