EUROPA League
COPENHAGEN BOSS WRITES OFF CHANCES OF BEATING MAN UTD IN EUROPA LEAGUE SHOWDOWN
Copenhagen coach Stale Solbakken has written off his side’s chances against Manchcester United by saying: “You shouldn’t put your house on us!”
Solbakken was in charge of Copenhagen in 2006 when his side famously beat Sir Alex Ferguson’s United 1-0 in the group stage of the Champions League.
But Solbakken, 52, admitted his side will need to play a “perfect” game against United tomorrow if they are to upset the Europa League favourites – and warned fans against backing his underdogs.
“In order to do that we have to play perfect,” said Solbakken. “We need a bit of luck and we need United not to fire on all cylinders.
“We need to be perfect defensively, we need those one, two or three chances we get during a game like this.
“So the chances are not great, but it’s an advantage for us that it’s over 90 minutes and not 180 minutes.
“We have a good feeling, after managing to get a week’s break after the season ended, and we’ve managed to get a couple of players ready to play, who have been vital to us before.
“So we have a good feeling after our 3-0 victory in the last round, but you shouldn’t put your house on us tomorrow! But we will give everything.
“After the coronavirusbreak, United are looking more of an attacking threat, based on what you’re used to seeing from United teams of the past, if you go all the way back to the early days of Ferguson right through to the late days of Ferguson.
“Obviously Ole Gunnar’s main mentor as a manager is Sir Alex Ferguson, and I can see he’s building what you would call a more attractive way of playing or whatever you like call it.
“He has more weapons in the last third of the pitch and they are still a great counter-attacking team.
“But they’re starting to open up low defences now, with the signing of Bruno Fernandes, with the cutting inside from the right of Mason Greenwood, and obviously the speed of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
“So it’s going very much in the right direction and after the coronavirus break they have been very good.”
Asked if United playmaker Fernandes is the biggest threat to shut down, Solbakken said: “You can’t give one player too much attention when you have four or five other match-winners out there, so we have to defend as a team.”
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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