EUROPA League
LIKE NOW, 10 YEARS AGO, FOOTBALL FACED CRISIS
Though the current COVID-19 shutdown is unprecedented, football has had to contend with peculiar circumstances before, including 10 years ago when European air travel shut down in the aftermath of an Icelandic volcano.
Ten years ago, on April 14, Eyjafjallajokull erupted and propelled ash several miles into the atmosphere, making it dangerous to fly in case the debris got into aircraft engines.
Being a globalised game with plenty of international travel at the top level, football was forced to amend quickly, and its repercussions were significant.
By the time the dust had settled, metaphorically as well as literally, West Ham had completed an ownership change, Jose Mourinho had taken advantage of Barcelona’s two-day coach journey to Milan and Sam Allardyce was cursing his luck for missing out on Robert Lewandowski.
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker travelled more than a thousand miles over land and sea to present the programme having been in Madrid the night before.
‘It reminded me of my football days – once you’ve got a target and put your mind to it, nothing stands in your way,’ he said on his bleary-eyed arrival to the BBC studios.
Of course, the volcano had serious repercussions. Though some restrictions on flights were lifted within a fortnight, air travel wasn’t completely back to normal in England until the middle of May. Until then, the old-fashioned team coach returned to fashion to replace the charter plane.
The most prestigious fixtures to be affected were the first legs of the Champions League semi-finals. The holders Barcelona, at their peak under Pep Guardiola, had to travel 625 miles by coach to Milan to face Jose Mourinho’s Inter, the journey broke up by an overnight stay in Cannes.
Inter won 3-1 with Lionel Messi and Xavi subdued and understandably leggy after 14 hours on a bus. ‘Something should have been done not to give this advantage to the home team,’ complained Barca’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who now occupies the same position at Manchester City.
Inter went on to reach the final 3-2 on aggregate and in the other semi, Lyon also went out having had to travel 450 miles by road for their first leg against Bayern Munich.
In the Europa League, Liverpool had a 24-hour trip to Madrid for their semi-final against Atletico, travelling by rail to Bordeaux before being allowed to fly the rest of the way. They lost the tie on away goals though Fulham were able to reach the final despite a 570-mile road trip to Hamburg.
The most eye-catching sacrifice was made in another sport. Eventing rider Oliver Townend took a £1,600 taxi ride to Madrid in order to fly to America and compete in an event in Kentucky.
Though life returned to normal for most sports people relatively quickly – certainly compared to today’s crisis – there were some longer-term repercussions.
For West Ham’s Icelandic owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson – and his bald-headed consortium partner Eggert Magnusson – already reeling from the banking crisis in his country the previous year, the volcano was the final straw. He surrendered majority control of the club to David Sullivan and David Gold in May, having seen them buy 50 per cent of the club in January. After the ash cloud, Magnusson and Co disappeared like dust.
Up at Blackburn, Allardyce was foiled by flight cancellations. It scuppered his chance to meet Lewandowski, and up-and-coming striker with Lech Poznan.
‘I had watched him play, but didn’t get the chance to meet him. His agent said he couldn’t come over because of the ash cloud,’ said Allardyce. The centre-forward later moved to Borussia Dortmund and the rest is history.
More than 100,000 flights were cancelled in total by the eruption. Across the world, events were either cancelled – like the Japanese Moto GP – or disrupted, with several star runners unable to compete in the London Marathon.
Although European flights were affected worst, it had global knock-on effects with large swathes of European air space dangerous to use.
It was Newcastle United’s misfortune that, at the height of the problems on April 19, they were slated for the longest trip in domestic football, an away match at Plymouth.
Instead of flying as normal, Newcastle had to make the 916-mile round trip by road but won 2-0 to clinch the Championship title with goals from Andy Carroll and Wayne Routledge.
In this current climate, it’s a tiny reminder that better times can be around the corner.
-Daily Mail
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag called on his players to use the frustration from their humbling defeat by Tottenham Hotspur as motivation to beat Porto in the Europa League on Thursday.
Following the 3-0 home loss to Spurs on Sunday, Ten Hag admitted his team’s mood could have been more positive.
“We are mad, mad with ourselves, especially when you lose a game like Sunday… but you have to deal with it. We are mad, and from the madness we have to get motivation,” Ten Hag told reporters on Wednesday.
“Always, when we are not winning we are disappointed and we are also mad with ourselves.”
United are 13th in the Premier League table and following a 1-1 draw with Dutch side Twente Enschede in the first Europa League match, Ten Hag said speculation about his job was inevitable.
“This club wants to be back on top and it’s a long-term target. We talk every day. Every day we evaluate and review the process and where necessary we make our decisions,” he said
“Everyone has to take responsibility and that starts with me as the manager. But on the pitch we have leadership skills and they have to stand up.
“Every game for us is important and every opponent is 100% motivated. We have to be ready to compete and fight with them.”
The Dutchman said midfielder Mason Mount, who was not part of the squad that travelled to Porto, was dealing with two injury issues and that defender Luke Shaw should return to action following the October international break.
-Reuters
Manchester United began their Europa League campaign with a 1-1 draw after they were held by FC Twente at a rainy Old Trafford on Wednesday, with a goal from Christian Eriksen being cancelled out by Dutch striker Sam Lammers.
The first half was a lively affair, with Twente’s Lammers making an early attempt that trickled past the post.
Eriksen put United ahead 10 minutes before the break, delivering a powerful curling shot into the top corner from inside the box.
Twente equalised in the 68th minute when Lammers produced a powerful finish past United keeper Andre Onana at the near post.
Joshua Zirkzee tried to get United in front again minutes later with a shot from an acute angle but were denied by a save from Twente keeper Lars Unnerstall.
Bruno Fernandes came close to scoring for United in the final minutes with a curling shot toward the top corner, but the hosts struggled to break through Twente’s deep-lying defence, which seemed content to secure the away draw.
DIA DOUBLE FOR LAZIO
Boulaye Dia scored a double and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru added another in the first half to hand Lazio a comprehensive 3-0 win against Dynamo Kyiv in Hamburg.
Nice and Real Sociedad played out a 1-1 draw. Ander Barrenetxea put the Basque side ahead before Pablo Rosario scored the equaliser for Nice.
Elsewhere, Turkish champions Galatasaray claimed a 3-1 home win over Greece’s PAOK thanks to Abdul Rahman Baba’s own goal and strikes from Yunus Akgun and Mauro Icardi. Giannis Konstantelias scored for the visitors.
In an early match, Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt secured a 3-2 home victory against FC Porto thanks to a brace from Jens Petter Hauge, despite going down to 10 men in the 51st minute.
-Reuters
It took Ajax 34 penalties to beat Panathinaikos 13-12 in a marathon shootout on Thursday, setting a UEFA competition record after their Europa League third qualifying round tie ended 1-1 over two legs and extra time.
Ajax, who won 1-0 at Panathinaikos last week, conceded in the 89th minute in Amsterdam, leading to the shootout that broke the previous record of 32 attempts at the European U-21 Championship semi-final in 2007 where Netherlands beat England 13-12.
The world record for the longest shootout was set in May when Israeli third-tier clubs SC Dimona and Shimshon Tel Aviv took 56 penalties to resolve their semi-final promotion playoff tie.
Ajax keeper Remko Pasveer made five saves and scored on his own attempt to help the hosts win the shootout as Dutch international Brian Brobbey missed two penalties.
“Five is quite a lot, yes. I save a penalty every now and then, but I don’t think you often experience something as crazy as this,” Pasveer said.
“Every time I thought we would do it. Brobbey behind the ball, we will do it. But he missed, while he always scores during training.”
Defender Anton Gaaei ultimately delivered the winning penalty for Ajax. The Eredivisie club will now face Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok in the playoff round later this month.
-Reuters
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