EUROPA League
Osimhen-less Napoli win thriller to knock Ndidi-inspired Leicester out of Europa League
Napoli sent Leicester crashing out of the Europa League as the Italian side advanced to the knockout stages with a 3-2 win in a dramatic conclusion to Group C on Thursday (Dec 9).
Leicester were top of the group going into the final round of matches, but Brendan Rodgers’ team were condemned to an unwanted place in the Europa Conference League after the defeat in Naples dropped them to third place.
Napoli had blown a two-goal lead as Leicester hit back to level by half-time, but Eljif Elmas’s second goal of the game won it for the hosts after the interval.
Spartak Moscow finished top of the group after a 1-0 win at Legia Warsaw, secured by Zelimkhan Bakaev’s 17th-minute goal.
Leicester would have salvaged their Europa League place if Legia’s Tomas Pekhart hadn’t missed a stoppage-time penalty.
Napoli ended in second place, two points ahead of Leicester, and will feature in the Europa League knockout round play-offs in February.
Continuing a disappointing season for the FA Cup holders, Leicester now have the unwanted burden of playing in the knockout play-off round of Europe’s least glamourous club competition when it resumes in the new year.
“I’ve got to be honest I don’t even know what the competition is,” Rodgers said of the Europa Conference League.
“I was focused on the Europa League and winning this group and at the very least finishing second. But I am sure we will find out soon enough.”
Seven Leicester players and three staff members missed the trip to Italy, with Rodgers revealing both positive Covid-19 cases and other illnesses had depleted his squad.
He was still able to name eight of the team beaten by Aston Villa last weekend, in contrast to Napoli, who are in the midst of a major injury crisis which deprived them of Victor Osimhen, Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne and Fabian Ruiz.
Despite their fitness issues, Napoli took the lead in the fourth minute as Adam Ounas marked his first start for the club since 2019 with a clinical low strike from just inside the penalty area.
Napoli struck again in the 24th minute when Andrea Petagna beat Leicester’s offside trap and squared his pass to Elmas, who slotted past Kasper Schmeichel with ease.
Leicester rocked
Jonny Evans gave Leicester hope when he fired home after Napoli failed to clear James Maddison’s 27th-minute free-kick.
Rodgers’ men blew a 2-0 lead in a draw against Napoli in September and it was Napoli’s turn to squander that advantage this time.
Evans’ first goal in Europe for eight years was followed in the 33rd minute by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s maiden goal for Leicester.
Maddison’s free-kick was only cleared to the edge of the area, where the 23-year-old midfielder smashed a superb volley into the bottom corner.
But Napoli regained the lead in the 53rd minute as Elmas lashed home from Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s cross.
Maddison hit the post from just six yards moments later as Rodgers held his head in frustration.
Real Sociedad secured second place in Group B with a 3-0 win against PSV Eindhoven, who drop into the Europa Conference League.
Mikel Oyarzabal netted a 43rd-minute penalty and scored again in the 62nd minute before Alexander Sorloth struck in the final moments after Ibrahim Sangare’s red card for PSV.
Group B winners Monaco were held to a 1-1 draw at Sturm Graz.
Group A winners Lyon lost their 100 per cent record in this season’s competition after a 1-1 draw against second-placed Rangers.
In Group D, first-placed Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1 at third-placed Fenerbahce, while second-placed Olympiakos lost 1-0 against Antwerp.
-AFP
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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