⚽UEFA Europa League Discussion Thread -- 2025/26 | Group Phase

[Balmain]

Atalanta was the team that made this year's winner lose, wow, it really wasn't a match as expected. Lookman sealed the match with his goals. I have never seen Bayern Leverkusen so helpless, I'm talking about this season. Xabi Alanso fell victim to wrong game analysis and wrong choices. Atalanta fought throughout the match and did not lose their resistance and tried to play ahead even when they were ahead. Bayern Leverkusen remained at a very low tempo, compared to Atalanta, I think they did not expect Atalanta's constant pressure and they had a mental collapse because they could not play their own game. Bayern Leverkusen fans supported their team until the end of the match, which has another beautiful side.

[Distraction]

They did it in Bundesliga so that alone equalled Arsenal's Invincibles so any doubts lingering were gone with that kind of performance. Beat Arsenal's points total, goals scored. What a team.

And now, just two cups away from perfection. I'm not even a Bayer fan but I'm dreaming already, what a memory to treasure.

No value in tonight's game though. 0-0 is also a distinct possibility if I understand the way the Italians will play

While like the whole world were favouring Leverkusen for lifting the EL trophy we got a surprising result.    I also thought like maybe we would see these teams weighing each other and there wouldn't be many goals.

But here we are! Atalanta really deserved that trophy 100%. Lookman got all the spotlight on himself by a gigantic effort. Maybe he is the player of critical times? 

Gasperini is speculated to leave Atalanta to join Napoli. It is going to be a nice way of saying goodbye for him with this trophy.

[mamesso]

~Snip~

While like the whole world were favouring Leverkusen for lifting the EL trophy we got a surprising result.    I also thought like maybe we would see these teams weighing each other and there wouldn't be many goals.

But here we are! Atalanta really deserved that trophy 100%. Lookman got all the spotlight on himself by a gigantic effort. Maybe he is the player of critical times? 

Gasperini is speculated to leave Atalanta to join Napoli. It is going to be a nice way of saying goodbye for him with this trophy.

Actually I would rather see Leverkusen win the UEL trophy than Atalanta, but this is football, there are always surprises that make initial predictions very far from the results achieved on the field. Atalanta success in winning the UEL was because the players' mentality was very strong, their performance was also very good this season. You can see how they played when they beat Liverpool, the Atalanta players' motivation and ambition were very high to win the match.

Atalanta players managed to show the same performance when facing Leverkusen in the final, they also humiliated Leverkusen with a score of 3-0. Atalanta success cannot be separated from the role of Gasperini who always wants to make Atalanta a club to be reckoned with and able to provide competition in the title race. If he really leaves Atalanta to coach Napoli, Atalanta will lose the most influential figure in their squad like when Spalletti left Napoli some time ago.

[Helena Yu]

Gasperini is speculated to leave Atalanta to join Napoli. It is going to be a nice way of saying goodbye for him with this trophy.

It's really unfortunate he will leave Atalanta, he joined Atalanta since 2016, he already in Atalanta for 8 years. Although he never bring any trophies except this one, but Atalanta isn't a strong team, so with this winning Atalanta's fans will keep remembering Gasperini as one of best coach.

Probably this is a win-win solution for both of them, Atalanta want a fresh new manager and Gasperini can manage other big team...

[morvillz7z]

Bump! 

Have you ever seen a team score four goals from corners in one match?

I just finished watching the Ruzomberok vs Tobol 1st leg highlights, and the Slovaks scored four, yes four, goals from corners...this might be the weirdest thing i've ever seen, and it's probably a record as well.

Tobol players seemed completely lost defending these crosses. I'm not saying Ruzomberok will do the same today, but it's not something you can fix within a week, Tobol is certainly vulnerable on set-pieces.

I'm taking BTTS here, not because of ^^^ .....it's hard to erase a three-goal deficit, you have to be on the front foot from the first minute. Expect Ruzomberok to catch them off-guard on a counter, 1.64 odds decent enough for me.

[LTU_btc]

Bump! 

Have you ever seen a team score four goals from corners in one match?

I just finished watching the Ruzomberok vs Tobol 1st leg highlights, and the Slovaks scored four, yes four, goals from corners...this might be the weirdest thing i've ever seen, and it's probably a record as well.
I'm taking BTTS here, not because of ^^^ .....it's hard to erase a three-goal deficit, you have to be on the front foot from the first minute. Expect Ruzomberok to catch them off-guard on a counter, 1.64 odds decent enough for me.

No, I think I haven't saw such thing, can't remember. Anddespite that Tobol scored early goal today, it didn't helped them to make an comeback and game ended 1:0
Made some money for going with over 2.5 in Zira - Sheriff and ElfSborg - Paphos games. Sheriff doesn't looks so good like in previousseasons, they made it to the next round only after penalties. After all, they're not even champions of Moldova.
Interesting thing that Hunedoara, team from 2nd division of Romania continue their journey. In 1st leg away they destroyed Paks 4:0 and now loss 0:2 was enough to reach next round.
Next round we have some big boys joining fight - Ajax, Braga or Trabzonspor

[morvillz7z]

FC Sheriff Tiraspol vs. IF Elfsborg – BTTS @1.69  ❌

Sheriff had trouble against a defensive-minded and physical team of Zira, but they got through.

Elfsborg took quite the opposite path, thanks in part to Paphos' two red cards in both matches. The Swedes are a very direct, attacking side which should lead to an end-to-end open game with goals i think. Elfsborg's last 5 matches in all competitions have seen a total of 25 goals, hope that the high-goalscoring trend continues today.

[3meek]

FC Sheriff Tiraspol vs. IF Elfsborg – BTTS @1.69

Sheriff had trouble against a defensive-minded and physical team of Zira, but they got through.

Elfsborg took quite the opposite path, thanks in part to Paphos' two red cards in both matches. The Swedes are a very direct, attacking side which should lead to an end-to-end open game with goals i think. Elfsborg's last 5 matches in all competitions have seen a total of 25 goals, hope that the high-goalscoring trend continues today.

I remember when Sheriff could beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu but it's not the same Sheriff now... I'm betting that both teams will score tonight... I hope that Sheriff can score in a home game... I think the same thing will happen in the game Wisla vs Rapid...

[Spaceman1000$]

Atalanta was the team that made this year's winner lose, wow, it really wasn't a match as expected. Lookman sealed the match with his goals. I have never seen Bayern Leverkusen so helpless, I'm talking about this season. Xabi Alanso fell victim to wrong game analysis and wrong choices. Atalanta fought throughout the match and did not lose their resistance and tried to play ahead even when they were ahead. Bayern Leverkusen remained at a very low tempo, compared to Atalanta, I think they did not expect Atalanta's constant pressure and they had a mental collapse because they could not play their own game. Bayern Leverkusen fans supported their team until the end of the match, which has another beautiful side.

I agree with you, Bayern Leverkusen already where the favorite side to win, and that was on everyone's lips, because looking at the parameters on ground as at then, they had more advantage, they just won the bundesliga with an incredible record of undefeated games, so who wouldn't go for Leverkusen.

 Atalanta approached the game with an entirely different spirit, they where just good at the midfield and defence, there attack was a different story because Ademola lookman wasn't a strikes the Leverkusen defence early took cognizance of, by the time they knew it, he had already singlehandedly scored 3 goals to seal the winning, and that was the only underlining defensive error xabi alonso didn't see  coming.

[boltz]

A lot of awesome games today in Europa League and personally I will choose to watch Corvinul Hunedoara - Rijeka as few of us knew that Corvinul actually won Romanian Cup from Second Ligue and know they have a chance to qualify in Europa League groups. However , Rijeka is an experienced team with great players that know how to win important games but also qualifiers but I do see this game with both teams to score if someone wants to trow a bet on this game. 

[LTU_btc]

From today's games I took parlay of over 2.5 goals in Ajax - Vojvodina and Braga - Maccabi @1.72, I expect that favorites will not have much problems there. Also, put some money on Trabzonspor ML and over 2.5 on Pantahinaikos - Botev. And rest of money on ballance is for Conference league bets .

A lot of awesome games today in Europa League and personally I will choose to watch Corvinul Hunedoara - Rijeka as few of us knew that Corvinul actually won Romanian Cup from Second Ligue and know they have a chance to qualify in Europa League groups. However , Rijeka is an experienced team with great players that know how to win important games but also qualifiers but I do see this game with both teams to score if someone wants to trow a bet on this game. 

After what Hunedoara did in 1st round, you can't understimate them. Personally, I'm not sure about BTTS on this game, I expect that Rijeka will win without conceding a goal

[ILuckyGuyI]

From today's games I took parlay of over 2.5 goals in Ajax - Vojvodina and Braga - Maccabi @1.72, I expect that favorites will not have much problems there. Also, put some money on Trabzonspor ML and over 2.5 on Pantahinaikos - Botev. And rest of money on ballance is for Conference league bets .

There is still time but Ajax can't still score a single goal after leaving 70 minutes behind. Unless Vojvodina score first as soon as possible, I guess it is too difficult for this game to end up with over 2.5 goals.

This is all on Ajax though.    They actually played 5 friendlies and showed good performances in most of them. But it's interesting to see them having this much difficulty in this game now.

They were really good in the 1st half but not good at all in the 2nd one. Probably they will still find a way to eliminate their competitor thanks to power gap but they should improve this performance immediately.

[Josefjix]

Atalanta was the team that made this year's winner lose, wow, it really wasn't a match as expected. Lookman sealed the match with his goals. I have never seen Bayern Leverkusen so helpless, I'm talking about this season. Xabi Alanso fell victim to wrong game analysis and wrong choices. Atalanta fought throughout the match and did not lose their resistance and tried to play ahead even when they were ahead. Bayern Leverkusen remained at a very low tempo, compared to Atalanta, I think they did not expect Atalanta's constant pressure and they had a mental collapse because they could not play their own game. Bayern Leverkusen fans supported their team until the end of the match, which has another beautiful side.

Bayer Leverkusen was unbeaten until they faced Atalanta in the Europa League final which was one of the top matches last season. Atalanta thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 3 nil in the final and Lookman scored an hattrick which was one of his epic performances at top phase for his club. However that shocking defeats will not stop Leverkusen this season from meeting up with their opposition, they're coming for everything they didn't touch last season, Xabi Alonso focuses on the UEFA Champions League because it's their main target.

[MK-74]

Trabzonspor had an easy win tonight. 2-0 is an important score for the first match.
Trabzonspor will play the next match at home, which is advantageous for them. The second match will be easy for Trabzonspor.

[bitgolden]

FC Sheriff Tiraspol vs. IF Elfsborg – BTTS @1.69

Sheriff had trouble against a defensive-minded and physical team of Zira, but they got through.

Elfsborg took quite the opposite path, thanks in part to Paphos' two red cards in both matches. The Swedes are a very direct, attacking side which should lead to an end-to-end open game with goals i think. Elfsborg's last 5 matches in all competitions have seen a total of 25 goals, hope that the high-goalscoring trend continues today.

I remember when Sheriff could beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu but it's not the same Sheriff now... I'm betting that both teams will score tonight... I hope that Sheriff can score in a home game... I think the same thing will happen in the game Wisla vs Rapid...

That wasn't really something that we could really see all that complicated, they weren't even good enough to do that, but that happened just once and I think we need to end up considering that they had a lucky season and nothing more. They are normally this good, and there are many teams that had that type of year, if you look at UCL history, you will see that many teams had situations that weren't really all that well in other years but had one good year.

Sherrif was one of those teams, won against Real, and the year Real won the UCL as well, so not like some bad Real season neither, it was on the season when Real won both UCL and the league, and yet they lost to Sheriff in the group stages which could be the biggest game in Sherrif history, no victory could ever be bigger than that, not now, not in the future. What we need to realize is that they tried their best, and they still can't get better because financially they can't afford to get players that would make that team better, they are better now but not that much. I am expecting them to not be that great, which is fine, but in the end we are talking about a team that is small and from a poor nation so they are where they deserve.

[MAAManda]

Trabzonspor had an easy win tonight. 2-0 is an important score for the first match.
Trabzonspor will play the next match at home, which is advantageous for them. The second match will be easy for Trabzonspor.

An easy match for them because they played a qualifying match with an unknown team, in the next leg they should be able to easily destroy MFK Ružomberok because they will be playing at home. BTW, UEL has entered a new phase and this is an old topic, perhaps we should not discuss anything related to UEL until the qualifiers are over. There are many matches that should not be highlighted in the mainstream .

[buwaytress]

. BTW, UEL has entered a new phase and this is an old topic, perhaps we should not discuss anything related to UEL until the qualifiers are over. There are many matches that should not be highlighted in the mainstream .

Whyever not? If you are betting on them, and you follow qualifiers, it is all relevant. I will update the thread title once the proper begins but I think there are plenty of worth watches, especially if you are from a supporting club.

I will, also, however start deleting the spammy posts. Already did a couple from phone but a clunky job of it.

Spammers be warned.

[LTU_btc]

We have 9 nd qualifying round 2nd leg games today and some opportunities to make money. A bit surprised that odds for Ajax isn't bad at all, around 1.60. But maybe consideringthat they struggled in 1st leg, it's not strange. Anyway, going with their ML tonight. Also, going with Cercle Brugge ML with betboost.
I expect some high scoring games, so, I go with over 2.5 goals in quite many pairs - Elfsborg - Sheriff, Maccabi - Braga, Botev - Panathinaikos, Cercle - Kilmanrock, Rijeka - Huneodara and Rapida - Wisla
Going to make some similar bets on Conference league, but a bit lazy to write down everything.

[Baki202]

Atalanta was the team that made this year's winner lose, wow, it really wasn't a match as expected. Lookman sealed the match with his goals. I have never seen Bayern Leverkusen so helpless, I'm talking about this season. Xabi Alanso fell victim to wrong game analysis and wrong choices. Atalanta fought throughout the match and did not lose their resistance and tried to play ahead even when they were ahead. Bayern Leverkusen remained at a very low tempo, compared to Atalanta, I think they did not expect Atalanta's constant pressure and they had a mental collapse because they could not play their own game. Bayern Leverkusen fans supported their team until the end of the match, which has another beautiful side.

Atlanta totally surprised me because out of all the  Club  that were in the Europa  still Got there  Way in, Lookman actually did well. Sometimes I feel that the club is not without the players the kind of players you have with determine the kind of achievements you will get. Even Leverkusen did not win at least they were able to win the Bundesliga, which was also an unexpected winning because it was always Bayern or dortmund, but now things are changing early than expected. Xabi Alanso is doing all he can just to make his club stand out, for him to win the bundles Liga then he can also, Atlanta winning the Europa sign of them being dominant during the game, their will be other games for them to play, so them will both prepare very well before they commence the game, and if not that Bayern Leverkusen have won the bundeliga what ? They still want to win the Europa it's even good that they were defeated by Atlanta.

[LTU_btc]

In 3rd round Ajax - Panathinaikos probably is most interesting pair. Ajax is favorite, but I wouldn't bet on their win away. I go with over 2,5 goals there. Same bet in Braga - Servette, Celje - Shamroc Rovers, and Molde - Cercle Brugge as well. Put some money on Trabzonspor ML. Much more on RFS Riga vs Santa Coloma. Odds isn't very high, but it looks like easy money.
And Draw No bet on Klaksvik, they're hard to beat at home and their opponent isn't something special