From Gerrard to Zenit: the major winners and losers from Europa League qualifying

in , , , , , , ,

Not long to go now before the Europa League properly starts.

After several weeks of preliminarily action there’s just one more qualification round to navigate before the group stages can commence.

So as the third qualifying round concludes with clubs battling to maintain their European dreams there will undoubtedly be winners and losers, but who were they on the night?

Winner: Gerrard’s unbeaten streak

It wasn’t pretty but Rangers ultimately got the job done.

Having a 3-1 first-leg lead over NK Maribor meant the onus was on their Slovenian rivals knowing that if they commit then it could potentially leave the door open for a counter.

In the end Rangers and Maribor shared the spoils, thanks in part to Allan McGregor saving a spot kick in stoppage time, meaning the Glaswegian outfit are one step away from playing European football in the autumn, something they last managed eight years ago.

So far it’s proving to be so far so good for Gers boss Steven Gerrard who, after eight competitive matches is yet to taste defeat. This was their sixth European fixture of the season: three wins and three draws to date.

Loser: Hibs

It was all to play for after Molde and Hibs played out a goalless draw at Easter Road last week.

No doubt the Scottish club, under Neil Lennon’s command, would have fancied their chances of grabbing a score draw, which would have been enough to see them go through.

However, that didn’t prove to be the case, instead the Norwegian outfit – managed once again by Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solksjaer – brushed their guests aside 3-0 with goals from teenager Erling Braut Haland (brace) and Fredrik Aursnes.

It means the wait to play qualified European football goes on for the Edinburgh-based club.

Winner: Jack Cork

After 180 minutes of football the scoreline was level between Burnley and Ä°stanbul BaÅŸakÅŸehir leaving Sean Dyche’s men European adventure hanging by a thread.

However, there’s something about this Lancashire side, they left it very late against Aberdeen in the previous round and Turf Moor – once again playing host to extra time – felt a sense of déjà vu.

A fortnight ago, Jack Cork scored what effectively proved to be the winning goal against the Dons, and the midfielder (a late second half substitute) repeated that same trick again.

Playing these extra thirty minutes, of course, doesn’t bode well for the weekend but if anything it proves Burnley’s resilience.

Loser: Joe Hart’s rivals

Eyebrows were raised when Burnley signed Joe Hart from Manchester City this summer.

It didn’t relate to whether or not he’s good enough, but the fact The Clarets aren’t exactly lacking quality ‘keepers, they have two that could easily be playing for the England national team: Tom Heaton and Nick Pope.

Early days, so no nothing conclusive, though after two matches he’s not put a foot wrong. Keep this up and Heaton and Pope could really be sweating.

Winner: Zenit

Before this evening there was one instance of a club overturning a first-leg 4-0 deficit in Europe, that honour belonged to Barcelona, but they now share it with Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Sergei Semak’s men were left embarrassed by Dinamo Minsk when the Belarusian club ran out 4-0 winners in front of their home supporters.

The gap in quality between the sides suggests it was nothing more than a freak result and they proved that and then some (unlike Feyenoord). Racing into a 2-0 lead – courtesy of Leandro Paredes and Christian Noboa – the home side found themselves reduced to 10 men after Paredes was shown a straight red.

But the drama never stopped there. Artem Dzyuba bagged a quick brace to force extra-time only for Seidu Yahaya to hand the visitors a priceless away goal. That only proved to be a temporary setback as Dzyuba and Robert Mak shared three goals between themselves with the latter registering his own double.

Football, bloody hell!

Loser: Eredivisie representatives

It goes without saying Dutch club football has seen better days in Europe and 2018/19 is proving to be yet another not so vintage season.

As things stand, before the final Champions League qualification round gets underway, just two of the five clubs that earned the right to play European football remain.

All three eliminations have occurred in the Europa League qualifiers. Feyenoord and Vitesse both join AZ meaning barring defeats to Ajax and PSV in the Champions League play-off round there will be no Dutch representation in the Europa League group phase.

Vitesse, dumped out by FC Basel (2-0 on aggregate) this evening, can be excused given the Swiss side’s calibre, but the same cannot be offered to Feyenoord who fell at the hands of Slovak outfit AS Trencin

In truth Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men fate was sealed when they were humbled 4-0 on the road last week by a club with the fraction of their budget. Despite performing much better in Rotterdam they couldn’t even muster a win.

Results have consequences; these miserable defeats leave the Dutch coefficient battered and bruised. If it continues to plummet there’s a possibly of just one participant dining at the high table (and even then it could prove to be a challenge to qualify).

Winner: Alvaro Negredo

Alvaro Negredo is best remembered on English soil for his respective spells at Manchester City and Middlesbrough – neither seeing him pull up any trees.

Since moving to ambitious Turkish club Besiktas there’s been a change in demeanour and the Spanish marksman looks to be enjoying his football once again.

Heading into this weekend, he’s the toast of the town after his last minute heroics kept their European adventure alive. Senol Gunes’ men visited Austrian side LASK Linz with a slender 1-0 lead from the first leg.

However, with the clock ticking to full-time LASK Linz had managed to overturn the deficit, but they couldn’t hold on as Negredo popped up at the death.

Loser: Alvaro Negredo

The excitement of scoring a late goal, especially one with huge ramifications, will often lead you to get lost in the moment. Negredo is no exception. He choose to celebrate topless which means a mandatory yellow card. Unfortunately for him it was his second of the game meaning Besiktas ended with ten men.

The post From Gerrard to Zenit: the major winners and losers from Europa League qualifying appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2MvObSs
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)